The Nature of Magic, Book Two: The War of the Beast
by Firehawk242
Summary: Amelia and her friends have earned their wings, but in so doing released the greatest evil ever to haunt the Magic Dimension. Now they're fighting a desperate war in the hopes of stopping the Queen of Monsters, Eclipsis. But how can they stop the original source of evil?
1. The Fog of War

**Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.  
...What? You were expecting a joke? Sorry, I used up all the good ones in the last story. Poor planning on my part, I know.**

**Welcome back everyone, I hope you enjoyed the holidays. I am posting this to celebrate my favorite holiday. No, my favorite holiday isn't Christmas. It's January sixth: Twelfth Night. Christmas means spending time with the dysfunctional branch of my family, but Twelfth Night is spent with what I refer to as my extended family, which is much bigger, much nicer, and much more interesting than my biological family. It includes a lot of cool people, including two or three physicists, two rock stars (okay, one and a half), about a dozen actors (not movie actors, play actors. Although, now that I think about it, one of them actually was in a movie about five or six years ago. Not a big name movie, in fact I doubt you've ever heard of it, but still a movie.), five or six authors, and more doctors than I can count. You see why I prefer Twelfth Night to Christmas? Enough about me, on with the story!  
**

"Thermal Wave!"

Dhalia launched a blast of heat at the Aeropedes flying towards Perdi.

"Thanks!" Perdi yelled, turning back to her own opponents. She put her fingers to her temples. "Cognitive Break!"

Three of the Fire Wasps she was fighting suddenly went berserk, flying in circles, crashing into trees and each other, and shooting fire from their stingers.

"Reality Sphere!" Reyva yelled, twisting the universe around her into a shield. The blasts of flame the wasps released impacted and vanished. "Watch it there Perdi! Those bugs almost hit me!"

"Sorry!"

"Girls, not the time." Artis said. "And I should know." She hovered over a group of angrily buzzing Slicer Beetles. "Chrono Lock!" The insects froze, not moving in the slightest.

"Can we just finish this fight?" Amelia asked. "If we don't wrap this up soon we're going to be late for our lunch reservations!" She rose above the battle on the wings she had fought so hard to earn. "Mystical Pulse!" An explosion of pure undiluted magical energy shook the air with Amelia at its center, wiping dozens of creatures from the sky.

* * *

Ten minutes later the five fairies stood in the wreckage of the fight. Insect carapaces littered the ground.

"Well, I'd say that was successful." Reyva said. "Now, let's go home. Spacial Rift!"

A portal opened in front of the girls.

"You are never going to get over the fact that you got to keep that spell, are you?" Artis teased.

"I like it!" Reyva said. "I liked it when I was the Fairy of Space, and I like it even more now that I'm the Fairy of Reality." She sobered. "I just wish it didn't see so much use."

She had a point, Amelia brooded. The five of them were fighting in the war against Eclipsis. Because of their new strength and their experience in Univix, Bloom had made them one of her emergency response teams.

Of course, the fact that they were responsible for Eclipsis's escape from Univix was probably another factor. Bloom was big on second chances, but they had to be earned, so she was giving them the opportunity to regain her trust.

"Alright girls." Dhalia said. "Let's report back to Bloom."

They stepped though the portal.

* * *

In the five months since Eclipsis had returned to the Magic Dimension, Alfea had been transformed into a command center. Alfea had a long tradition of having its students play an active role in the events of the world, and because of that tradition its students had become the first line of defense in the war against the monsters. The young Fairies of Alfea, the Witches of Cloud Tower, and the Specialists of Red Fountain were the vanguard of the armies of the Magical Dimension. Their job was to handle minor attacks and try to contain the more severe incursions until help could arrive.

Bloom served as their commander. She lead by example, and her sheer power made her one of the Magic Dimension's strongest defenders, but she'd also proven her skill as a leader. She possessed an uncanny ability to put together effective teams, and she was a decent strategist. Maybe not as good as Tecna would have been, but Tecna was busy with her robot army anyways.

So far they'd managed to keep Eclipsis and her monstrous forces at bay, but they weren't making any progress either. Eclipsis evaded their best traps with ease. One group of fairies actually did catch up with her. Seven fairies went on that mission. Only four made it back, and one of them died from her wounds soon after.

If nothing changed the monsters would eventually overrun them.

* * *

Bloom was busy in her office. She pored over the various maps, reports, and messages cluttering her desk. Every message told of victories, but many of those victories had exacted a steep price. Alfea's infirmary was always full, but some of the dorms had become empty.

Bloom was convinced there was an overall strategy to the seemingly random attacks. She searched for a pattern in the attacks, trying to find something, anything, that would let her predict where the next attack would come. She scowled as it once again eluded her.

The hinges of her door creaked, and Bloom looked up. Five fairies trooped in.

Artis, Fairy of Time.

Perdilla, Fairy of Thought.

Reyva, Fairy of Reality.

Dhalia, Fairy of Energy.

Amelia, Fairy of Magic.

Bloom had mixed feelings about these five. On the one hand, they were one of her most powerful and most effective teams, and for the most part she liked them. On the other hand, these five girls were the ones responsible for this war. They had freed Eclipsis from Univix, although they hadn't known what they were doing at the time, and all the carnage, all the lives lost, was on their heads.

She brushed the familiar train of thought aside and greeted the girls. "Hello. How did the mission go?"

Dhalia, the leader of the five, spoke. "We destroyed the swarm before it could reach Yerli. The Fire Wasps attempted to start a forest fire as a final act, but we managed to stop them before they could do so."

"Good. You should rest." Bloom glanced at one of the papers on her desk. "You've done well, so enjoy yourselves."

"Thank you." The five girls stepped out.

Bloom returned to her examination of the attacks. Why attack Yerli? It wasn't a major city, or even an important one. It wasn't even in a particularly important realm, just Deylue, a lightly populated world loosely affiliated with Linphea. It made no sense.

Speaking of things which made no sense, why hadn't they attacked Earth yet? It was one of the most heavily populated worlds around, but it was still weak, having only had magic back for fifteen years, and lacking the technology to fight back against monsters.

Bloom didn't like it. She just couldn't shake the sense of that other shoe just waiting to drop.

* * *

"So, how was your mission today, girls?" The large apron wearing man asked.

"Fine." Amelia said. "Thanks for asking, Johan."

The five girls were seated around a table at their favorite restaurant in Magix, The Sated Tyger. Dhalia had introduced them to the place a little over six months ago. The excellent food, charming decor, cozy atmosphere, and friendly proprietor had made it into their favorite place to eat, talk, or just hang out.

Johan, the proprietor of the restaurant, had embraced the five fairies. His diverse interests meant he could chat comfortably with anyone, and his natural kindness made him a close friend. He always had something to share, and even if he didn't, he always had excellent advice. Amelia was still turning the first piece of advice he'd given her around in her head.

***"Just remember: Magic isn't the only kind of power. Magic is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. It can make your life easier, but there's always more than one way to accomplish something. And sometimes a wrench will do a better job with a nail than a hammer will. Sometimes the obvious solution, the predictable solution, is the wrong answer."***

That advice had served her well in her quest to earn her own magic, and she treasured it deeply.

Her reverie was broken when Johan asked what she'd like for lunch. She chuckled at herself. Usually Perdi was the one who got lost in thought! She placed her order.

* * *

"So, ladies," Johan inquired. "What's your next mission?"

Artis glanced up. "We don't know. No one does."

"No one has been able to predict Eclipsis's moves." Reyva said. "We're just responding to attacks when we get word of them."

"Her attacks make no sense!" Perdi exclaimed. She too was trying to puzzle out Eclipsis's strategy. "She's been attacking meaningless targets all across the Dimension, launching simultaneous attacks on several major worlds, and completely ignoring our biggest weakness, Earth!"

"She hasn't attacked Earth?" Johan was startled.

"Not so far." Dhalia said. "But we don't know how long that will remain the case."

"I'm actually from Earth." Johan said. "It's good to know my home is safe."

"Yes, but why?" Amelia asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

"I can think of a few reasons." Johan said. "For one, Earth doesn't have many monsters of its own, meaning that any invasion would have to come from another realm. Transporting enough of an army to take Earth would be difficult."

"Okay, that's one reason." Dhalia said. "But transportation issues have never stopped her before."

"Another possible reason is that she knows you expect her to attack Earth, so she's intentionally avoiding it to keep you guessing."

"Maybe. It would explain all the random attacks." Perdi said.

"Or, she doesn't know Earth's weak in the first place."

"What?" Amelia asked, a confused look on her face.

"Think about it. She's been sealed away for ten thousand years. What was Earth like back then? It's possible she believes Earth is the strongest world, not the weakest."

"That would assume she hasn't scouted the place." Reyva said. "And we know she has."

"I don't know then. Although..." He trailed off.

"What?" Amelia asked. "What is it?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing."

Artis spoke up. "Girls, it's getting late, we need to head back to Alfea."

"Go and rest, you'll need your strength." Johan said.

* * *

The five girls returned to their dorms and the welcoming embrace of their beds. Except one.

Amelia couldn't sleep. She sat on her bed, holding a small box in her hands. Inside sat two earrings. One held a brilliant white stone, the other held a cracked and broken stone as dark as night.

Was it worth it? Amelia wondered. Were her new powers worth freeing Eclipsis? She'd wanted her own powers so badly it had hurt, but was it worth starting a war? She knew the right answer to that question, but a part of her disagreed. She sighed and put the earrings back on her dresser. She returned to her bed and went to sleep.

**A/N: To all my old readers, welcome back. To any new readers, I'm glad to see you. This story was not part of the original plan for _On Borrowed Wings_, but with how well the first story turned out, I knew I had to write a second, and when I came up with the plot for the sequel I knew it would make more sense if I split it into three. So this is now "The Nature of Magic Trilogy".**

**Now, the story. I should probably explain a few things.  
Yes, Dhalia was using heat to attack, because she is now the Fairy of Energy. Not just electrical energy, all energy. This includes motion, electricity, and yes, heat.  
Also, Johan is _not_ typical. In fact, he was among the first non-magical immigrants from Earth to Magix, of which there are probably no more than two or three hundred. Note, Specialists _are_ magical beings, what with their telepathic control of dragons and such.**

**Bestiary Entries:  
-Aeropedes are centipedes, but instead of legs they have wings. They're also much larger than a normal centipede, and are typically between four and five feet in length. They attack with their large mandibles, which, depending on the subspecies, can be poisonous.  
-Fire Wasps are wasps the size of eagles that shoot fire from their stingers. Enough said.  
-Slicer Beetles are huge beetles about three feet in length. Their name comes from the twin razor sharp blades mounted on their heads like horns.  
This will be a semi-regular feature for this story, since Eclipsis's forces are monsters and I don't want to reuse things to death. Every time I introduce a new monster I'll include a brief description of it. Unfortunately, there is no art, because I decided not to inflict my...questionable...artistic skills upon you. However, if anyone wants to make some art for the story, please do so. I'd love to see what people think my creations actually look like.**

**I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new story. As always, reviews are welcome. I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing. If you want to flame, you can do that too. It won't bother me, but it will amuse me. So flame away, because I'll just keep laughing.**

**One final announcement: As a thank you to my readers for their support of _On Borrowed Wings_, I will be taking reader questions again. If you have any questions about this story, or _On Borrowed Wings_, put them in a review and I will do my best to answer them in chapter two. No spoilers though!  
****Happy Twelfth Night, and I hope to see you all in the future.**


	2. Know Your Enemy

**Disclaimer: We've gone over this before! I do not own Winx Club. On the other hand, I do own the Magix transformation, the world of Univix, the city Yerli, the world of Deylue, Eclipsis, Allanya, Amelia, Perdilla, Reyva, Dhalia, Artis, Sasha, and various minor characters. Wait, you guys haven't met Sasha yet, have you? Oh right, she's in Book Three. Oops. (Huh. The Spoiler Alert Siren didn't go off. Maybe this qualifies as a preview instead of a spoiler.)**

**Teasers for book three aside, it's time to answer some questions.  
For our first question, I am pleased to welcome back fellow author PierceTheVeils. Her question is: "If Amelia put the unbroken earring back on, would she have the powers it gave her in ****_On Borrowed Wings_****? Excellent question. If she were to put on the earring, she would get her old powers back. However, compared to her Magix powers, they would be incredibly weak, so there'd be no point in using them. Also, the earring can only provide a limited amount of magic at a time, and if it's overused it starts to draw on the life-force of the user, with potentially fatal results. Also, Amelia doesn't really want to wear it, for personal reasons.**

**Not so much a question, but more of a suggestion, this one comes from an anonymous guest: "You (I) could use some of the monsters Selina and the Trix have been using, and the three witches from _On Borrowed Wings_ could be helping Eclipsis." Let's take this piece by piece. Any similarity between monsters I use and things in the official show will be coincidental. I will use the monsters that I think fit the situation, and if Selina happens to summon a similar monster, then she summons a similar monster. Part of what has made this series work so far is that it doesn't really follow the rules for Winx Club. People get hurt a lot more here, actions have unforeseen consequences, and in some ways the heroes are their own worst enemies. So no, I don't think I'm likely to base my monsters off of the show's monsters. Besides, I have so many other sources to draw from. Mwahaha! As for Elise, Trina, and Lora, they're still around, and you'll be hearing from them soon...**

**Alright, that's it for the Q&A, on with the show! **

Dawn broke over the idyllic grounds of Alfea. Under more normal circumstances the school would be silent, with everyone still asleep. These days though, Alfea rose before the sun. The quad was filled with teams of fairies reporting in for their assignments for the day. These teams were posted throughout the Magic Dimension, providing an early warning system in case of attack. Off to the side stood fifty fairies in groups of five. These were the emergency response teams, chosen for their strength, ability to quickly reach the site of an attack, and their ability to work together to beat the odds. Flora, Musa, Stella, and Aisha each lead one of the teams. In fact, all the teams were lead by either a teacher or an alumnus, except one.

Dhalia, Artis, Reyva, Amelia, and Perdi stood off to the side. Since their return from Univix, they hadn't really fit in. They were now more powerful than any of the other students despite still being in their freshman year, but they were also the ones who'd released Eclipsis. Just to make them even bigger outcasts, their leader was a Cloud Tower transfer student and Amelia had been born with no magic at all. No one spoke to them if they could avoid it.

"Hey girls." Artis said. "We need a name."

"A name?" Perdi asked. "For what?"

"Us!"

"Why?" Reyva asked.

"Because we're a team." Amelia put in. "More than that, we're pretty much family. We've been through so much together."

"Exactly." Artis said.

"Alright, what did you have in mind?" Dhalia asked.

"Ummm..."

"Let's think about this." Perdi said, warming up to the idea. "Our powers are the original fairy powers, and we're a rather odd team. Protix?"

"No." Reyva said. "It just sounds off."

"Hey, why does it have to end in an x anyways?" Artis asked.

"Tradition?" Perdi offered.

"And since when have we followed tradition?"

"She's got a point." Amelia said.

"Dhalia, Perdi, Amelia, Artis, Reyva!" Bloom's voice cut through the air. "I have a mission for you."

"Alright, let's shelve this discussion for a later date." Dhalia said. "For now, we have a mission."

* * *

The five girls walked over to Bloom's desk in the middle of the quad.

"Yes, Professor Bloom?" Dhalia asked. "What do you want us to do?"

Bloom quickly looked them over. She was not happy with what she was about to tell them. More and more people were learning who had freed Eclipsis, and they were not happy. The fact that their anger was justified didn't make Bloom any happier. Too many people had demanded that these five be punished in some way. Removed from Alfea, stripped of their new-found powers, imprisoned, or banished to the Omega dimension were all popular choices. If nothing was done, and done soon, things would soon get out of hand. So Bloom came up with a counter proposal.

The war was getting worse. Bloom had to keep all of her forces available to defend the Magic Dimension. She couldn't send anyone to try to find a way to beat Eclipsis. But maybe, she could send these five girls. If she didn't do something soon, she'd be forced to remove them from active duty anyways, and this was at least productive.

But maybe this was a good thing. These girls were the only ones ever to face Eclipsis and come out unscathed. They also knew more about the origins of magic than most, and they'd proven their ability to beat the odds. Maybe, just maybe, this would work.

"Girls," Bloom said slowly, "I have a special mission for you. You have been relieved of all regular duties. Your task is to find a way to defeat Eclipsis."

The girls stood in shock. Relieved of all duties? Defeat Eclipsis? Fortunately, Dhalia recovered quickly.

"Yes, Professor."

The five girls turned and left.

* * *

The five girls sat in the dorm Amelia and Artis shared. No one spoke, each one afraid to break the silence.

Finally, Reyva spoke up. "How do we defeat the immortal Queen of Monsters?"

"I don't know." Dhalia said.

"She's been beaten before." Perdi offered.

"She was sealed away in Univix," Amelia said, "and look how well that worked out."

"So?" Artis asked. "We just need to find a way to beat her for good."

"How?" Perdi asked. "The original magic users couldn't do it! All they could do was seal her away in Univix!"

"Why did they seal her in Univix anyways?" Amelia asked. An idea was starting to form in the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "It seems like a poor place to put her."

"Well, she was stuck there for ten thousand years." Reyva said. "Maybe she couldn't figure out how to escape?"

"But that makes no sense either!" Amelia exclaimed. "It wasn't even that hard to free her! All we did was push her into a well!"

"What are you suggesting?" Dhalia asked. "That she _wanted _to stay in Univix?"

"It's the only thing I can come up with that makes sense." Amelia said. "Otherwise she'd have just jumped into the Well of Monsters thousands of years ago."

"But why would she _want_ to stay in Univix?" Reyva asked. "That makes no sense either!"

"Perhaps she was hiding from something." Perdi offered.

"Please." Reyva scoffed. "What would _Eclipsis_ be hiding from?"

"Enough." Dhalia's voice held the edge of command. "It's useless to try to figure this out without more information. We need to visit the library. Maybe we can find something about Eclipsis there."

"Oooh, I love the library!" Perdi squealed.

"We know you do Perdi." Artis said, clapping the taller girl's shoulder. "We know you do."

* * *

Barbatea looked up from her desk. Someone was coming to her library? Almost no one had come since the war had started. Maybe it was Tehya, she always liked reading, or perhaps Fria, she was an excellent student. Then the five girls rounded the bend and Barbatea's eyes went wide. Perdilla she could believe. Perdilla loved books, although she had a tendency to stay past closing time, but what was Reyva doing here? She'd seen the others a few times, and Artis had developed a fascination with the "Science-Fiction" books they'd acquired from Earth, but for Reyva to enter the library was almost unheard of.

"Hi there, Ms. Barbatea." Perdi said. "We need to do some research on Eclipsis. Bloom asked us to figure out how to beat her."

Fortunately, Barbatea quickly overcame her surprise. "I'm sorry Perdilla, we don't have much on Eclipsis, and what we do have is in the restricted vault."

"Well, we need it." Reyva said, perhaps a bit rudely.

"We've been removed from our regular duties." Artis put in smoothly. "Our mission is to defeat Eclipsis."

"And in order to do that, we need to know more about her." Dhalia said.

"We can't win if we don't know what we're up against." Amelia put in. "So please, may we look at the books?"

"...Alright, if Bloom said it was okay."

"Thank you." Perdi said.

Soon the five girls were seated around a table with about a dozen books. Silence fell as they began to read.

* * *

Several hours later, and the five fairies were no closer to finding an answer than when they started. Most of the books only mentioned Eclipsis in passing, or as a legend. Only one of the books treated her as being real, but it seemed like the author had taken a great deal of liberty with the story. To the best of their knowledge, Eclipsis did not have a dog for a pet, and that was one of the less ridiculous things in the book. They sighed.

"Well that was a waste of time." Reyva grumbled.

"Sorry girls." Dhalia said. " I really thought we might find something."

"I don't understand." Perdi was in shock. The library had never failed her before. "How can there be nothing about her in the library?"

"Well, it did happen ten thousand years ago." Artis said.

"And it's not exactly the sort of thing Alfea students would need to know about." Amelia said.

"Wait, maybe the Cloud Tower Library has something about Eclipsis!" Dhalia said.

"Are you really suggesting we visit Cloud Tower?" Artis asked. "You do remember what happened the last time we ran into some witches?"

"I know, but do we have another option? Besides, we're much stronger now. If Elise and her gang decide to start something, we should have no problems dealing with them."

"I almost wish they would..." Amelia muttered.

"Alright then, to Cloud Tower it is." Perdi said.

* * *

The girls stopped at their dorms before heading off to Cloud Tower to drop off their battle supplies.

"Hey girls, I need to get something." Dhalia said. "Be back in about ten minutes." She rushed into her room.

Amelia and Artis glanced at each other and shrugged. Reyva had a puzzled look on her face for a moment. Then she buried her face in her hands. The other three turned to look at her.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the group?" Artis asked.

"You'll see..." Reyva's voice was muffled by her hands.

"See what?" Perdi asked.

"Alright, I'm back!" Dhalia said.

The others turned and looked at her. Amelia, Artis, and Perdi's jaws dropped. Instead of her usual dour and dark colored outfits, Dhalia was wearing the most garishly purple dress any of them had ever seen, with a top that was somehow an even brighter hue. It was almost painful to look at.

"What?"

"Ummm why are you- Never mind." Amelia shook her head.

"Then let's go."

**A/N: So, how do you stop the Queen of Monsters? And why did she stay in Univix when it's so easy to escape? Does she really have a dog? And why am I leaving so many unanswered questions lying around? Because my sense of Schadenfreude is far too strong, which is probably why I beat up my characters so often. Sorry Amelia! Moving on.**

**My old readers have probably already noticed, but this story is not being written at the same breakneck pace _On Borrowed Wings_ was, for several reasons. For one, I'm about to start taking some college classes. Two, I'm starting to get more hours at my job, which means more money, but less free time. Three, this part of the story is going to require more research because I have to deal with more of the canon characters. Four, while writing that fast was exhilarating, it left me feeling burned out. So, updates will take longer for this story, but hopefully the quality will improve to make up for it. **

**Now, I have a question for my readers. I haven't been able to come up with a good name for the five girls as a group. All the good names are taken! If you have a suggestion, please let me know. If I like it, I'll use it for the story. Please note, it does not have to end in an x!**

**I think that's everything. I'll see you all next time.**


	3. Know Yourself

**Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club. At least, not in this universe. But, according to quantum physics, there's an infinite number of universes, meaning that not only is anything possible, but it's also mandatory. So, according to quantum physics, somewhere, somehow, in some alternate universe, I own Winx Club. I just hope that version of me knows what he's doing...**

**So we left off with- Yes? Oh, right. Tell them they're on soon. Sorry guys, the witches are in this chapter and they're getting impatient, so let's just get going before something happens to me.**

"So, Dhalia, do you think they'll let us in?" Artis was flying alongside Dhalia. They had decided against using Reyva's portals so as not to alarm anyone.

"They should." Dhalia said. "After all, we are on a mission."

The five fairies were nearing Cloud Tower. A lone figure stood at the entrance.

"Oh good." Dhalia said. "It's Darcy's turn to guard, Icy's much harder to talk to, and Stormy's just plain cranky."

They settled to the ground in front of the woman who was once one of the Magic Dimension's worst enemies.

The Trix had spent nearly a decade causing chaos and mayhem, but about ten years ago, that changed. Stormy had come down with a potentially fatal magical virus. Unable to save her, the Trix needed help. The only people they could turn to were the Winx. In exchange for the Winx saving Stormy, the trio had turned themselves in. However, in spite of their previous actions, they were too valuable a resource to waste. Their punishment was thirty years of "community service", and, much to everyone's surprise, they'd actually complied. More than complied, they'd gone out of their way to try and make up for the damage they'd done. There was a great deal of speculation about the reasons for this, but no one could say the Trix hadn't made themselves useful. And, on occasion, even entertaining. They were now on fairly good terms with the Winx, and, from time to time, the two groups would come together to reenact some of their more famous battles for everyone to watch. With the outbreak of the war, the Trix had volunteered to protect Cloud Tower from the forces of Eclipsis.

"Good evening, Ms. Darcy." Dhalia said. "We need to visit the library. May we enter?"

"Why do you need to visit the library?" Darcy's voice was suspicious.

"We need to find a way to defeat Eclipsis, but the Alfea library has virtually nothing on her. We thought that Cloud Tower might have more information."

"Alright, you may pass." Darcy stood aside, and the five fairies walked through the entrance.

* * *

"So how does it feel to be back?" Artis asked. "It's been almost a year since the last time you were here."

"Can we just get this over with?" Dhalia replied through gritted teeth. She never did like Cloud Tower. Between the dark lighting, her vicious fellow students, and the creepy aura of the tower itself, she'd come to hate the place.

"You mean almost a year since she dropped out?"

Dhalia's head snapped around to face the owner of that cold voice. "Hello Elise."

The gaunt witch stood in a doorway. Flanking her were Trina and Lora.

"Eww, what's she wearing?" Trina's sickly sweet voice oozed over them. "She looks like a silly little Pixie!"

"I'm a fairy now." Dhalia said through gritted teeth.

"She's one of us, so back off!" Amelia snarled at Trina.

"I don't know, I kind of like it." Lora's voice held an edge of icy venom. "She looks like an adorable little girlie!"

"Well you're not much to look at yourself." Perdi hissed.

Reyva and Artis stood watching the steadily escalating confrontation. By Artis's estimation they had maybe thirty seconds before this turned violent. She turned to Reyva.

"We have to stop this. Before someone gets hurt."

"How?"

"Remember that convergence spell we talked about?"

"Of course!"

The argument was reaching the boiling point.

"Alright, fine! Let's see this great fairy magic you have!" Elise yelled, powering up for battle. "You're still just a weak little girl!"

"You want to fight? Let's go!" Dhalia shouted.

"Oooh, the little pixie thinks she can win? Isn't that precious!" Trina followed suit, gathering her power around her.

"You're going to pay for that!" Amelia yelled. "And for breaking my earring!"

"Oh, how cute! She's all mad over a piece of jewelry." Lora said, drawing her magic to her.

"Come on girls!" Perdi cried. "Let's go Magix!"

(Cue transformation music)

Three fairies stood facing three witches, while two more fairies stood to the side.

"Ghostly Crash!" Elise shrieked.

"Kinetic Beam!" Dhalia cried.

"Titanium Smash!" Trina screamed.

"Mystic Shock!" Amelia yelled.

"Venom Stream!" Lora spat.

"Psychic Blast!" Perdi shouted.

"Infinity Barrier!" Artis and Reyva called out in unison.

All six attacks reached a point halfway between the two groups, and then they just...stopped.

"That's enough!" Reyva yelled. She turned to the witches. "Leave. Now."

The tension in the air seemed to vanish. A few more snide remarks were hurled across the room, but eventually the witches left.

"Space-Time Collapse." Reyva and Artis crushed the attacks into a single point where they cancelled each other out.

"How did you do that?" Amelia asked.

"Simple." Reyva said. "We combined our powers to create a wall."

"There's a little more to it than that Reyva!" Artis scolded. "What we did was make a space that, from the outside, is just an inch wide, but on the inside, it's several hundred miles across. Bigger on the inside than on the outside."

"So, you didn't actually _stop_ the attacks?"

"No, they were still moving. It's just that they had a _long_ way to go. Long enough for you all to come to your senses."

"Sorry girls." Dhalia said. "I shouldn't have let Elise get to me that way. It's just..."

"She was one of the reasons you left Cloud Tower." Reyva supplied for her roommate. "She was one of the worst parts of your time here."

"Yeah. She was."

"Thank goodness you two managed to stop us." Amelia said, looking at Reyva and Artis. "We can't go around tearing up Cloud Tower. After all, we still need to visit the library. Right Perdi?"

Perdi had a very confused look on her face. "What... What happened?"

"Perdi?" Dhalia was very concerned. Perdi was almost never confused, and none of them had seen that expression on her face before. The combination of shock, horror, and confusion was terrifying.

"I...I...What was I doing?" Perdi wailed, falling to her knees. "What happened to me?"

"It's alright Perdi." Artis went over to the shaking fairy and put her arm over her shoulders. "You'll be fine."

"But...I couldn't control myself, I couldn't think, I just kept making the situation worse!"

"It's alright. You were just angry. It's over now. You can relax."

"But I..."

"Listen to me. You were angry. That's normal. You just need to calm down."

"But..."

"I know what will make you feel better."

"You do?"

"Yes. Come on girls, we have a library to visit!"

"Oh! Yes!"

* * *

Artis was right, the library did cheer Perdi up. In no time at all she was scouring the shelves for anything they could use.

"Well that was easy enough." Artis said. "I wonder why she lost control like that?"

"It's the tower." Dhalia said with a frown. "Cloud Tower likes to bring out the worst in people. For witches this isn't much of a problem, but fairies tend to have a hard time dealing with it. Particularly fairies like Perdi, who aren't used to feeling strong emotions."

"I wonder why we weren't affected." Reyva said.

"Luck of the draw perhaps?" Artis offered. "Maybe we just got lucky."

"Or maybe it's because you didn't have a special grudge against any of the witches." Amelia said.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Elise made Dhalia's life here a nightmare, Trina broke my earring, and Lora put Perdi in the infirmary." Amelia frowned. "We all had a personal grudge against one of the three, and maybe the tower played on those feelings."

"It makes sense." Dhalia said. "The tower can't create feelings, only make them stronger."

"We'll have to keep an eye out for any more of its tricks." Amelia said. "But for now, we should probably help Perdi."

* * *

Several hours later, the girls were gathered around a table. A few books lay strewn across the surface, but not many.

"I can't believe this is all Cloud Tower has on Eclipsis!" Perdi was back to her old self, and rather indignant at the dearth of material.

"Well, we did learn some things." Artis said.

"Yeah, but none of it useful." Amelia said. "We know she's powerful. How does knowing she can turn into a flock of crows help in any way?"

"I don't know, but it's all we have." Dhalia said. "We're just going to have to make it work."

"I wonder how the others are doing out there, fighting against her armies." Reyva said.

"I just wish we could help." Dhalia said. "Instead we're stuck trying to find answers that don't exist. We have more power than most of the fairies in Alfea, but we can't even use our powers to fight back!"

"Wait! Our powers!" Perdi exclaimed. "That might be the key!"

"How?" Amelia asked. "What do our powers have to do with Eclipsis?"

"We got our powers the same way she got hers: By going through Univix!" Perdi said, becoming increasingly animated. "We may not know how to beat her, but maybe we can figure out how to beat her powers by studying our own!"

"Alright, let's go back to Alfea." Dhalia said. "It's getting late, we can try to learn more tomorrow."

There were no arguments. They were sick of Cloud Tower.

The five fairies left the dark pillar of the school for witches behind them as they flew towards Alfea.

**A/N: That was traumatic. It's a good thing Reyva and Artis managed to keep it together, otherwise someone was going to end up in the infirmary. **

**For those of you who were wondering, the spell "Infinity Barrier" has a lot in common with how the physics of a warp drive work. It's an interesting phenomenon. The universal speed limit is _c_, the speed of light in a vacuum. However, this speed limit only applies to things moving in space. Space itself is exempt, and therefore you can be pretty much motionless and still be moving faster than light. Have I blown anyone's mind yet?**

**Sorry, this chapter got a little science heavy. I've been spending a lot of time working on my novel, which is a science fiction story, and it seems to have sort of leaked over into my fan fiction. Well, the more you know, right? Anyways, I just wanted to make a note here, _On Borrowed Wings_ has passed the two thousand views mark. Wow. You guys are just incredible. **

**That's it for this chapter, I'll see you all next time.**


	4. The Terror of War

**Sorry this took so long guys. I just started classes at college, came down with the 24 hour flu, and my life was a mess for a bit. But I'm back. However, with college essays eating up a lot of my time, I'm not going to be able to write as often as I'd like. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and probably will not own Winx Club. If I did I wouldn't have a job at a grocery store, and then I'd miss out on meeting some very odd people. You know those stories about people standing next to each other and using their cell phones to talk to each other? Yeah, I thought those were an urban legend. Then it happened in front of me. It was kind of surreal, and left me wondering if there was a hidden camera somewhere. People are weird.**

**Speaking of surreal, Perdi and Reyva seem to be developing their own loyal fanbases. These are characters I created, and it feels almost unreal to see so many people developing such strong feelings towards them. It's a very strange and rather wonderful experience. Oh, and rc121, thanks for the frappucino. I'm not much for coffee, and caffeine does bad things to Perdi, but I'm sure Artis will enjoy it. She deserves something nice after her hard work last chapter. I'd give some to Reyva too, but she doesn't need it, being one of those insufferable morning people. **

**As for the spells I come up with, I have a lot of sneaky tricks at my disposal. I gave them some of the most fundamental powers I could think of, which lets them play games with the rules of the universe. ****Why ignore physics when you can play with physics? Some of the things physics says are possible exceed pretty much anything a human can imagine, meaning their powers are really only limited by how creative they are, and not by how strong they are.**

******Alright, now that that's out of the way, on with the story!**

***"Remember, all things exist in pairs, Amelia. Nothing can exist without its opposite.***

"Yes, I remember." Amelia muttered in her sleep. "But why?"

"Because if you don't remember what we're supposed to do, I'd never get anything done?" Artis's voice was teasing.

"Huh?" Amelia sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. "What?"

"You were talking in your sleep again."

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it. We should get going, we're having a meeting over breakfast."

"At the Sated Tyger?"

"Where else?"

That got Amelia out of bed. She might not like waking up, but there was no way she was going to miss out on Johan's cooking.

* * *

"So, what do we know?" Dhalia was presiding over their meeting.

"Well, Eclipsis was the first monster." Artis said. "She, Allanya, Arcadia, Wirena, Gorman, and Pelia all went through Univix to become the first magical beings. Unfortunately Eclipsis went through the Well of Monsters, resulting in her becoming the immortal queen of monsters."

"Allanya, Arcadia, Wirena, Gorman, and Pelia all fought her and forced her back into Univix." Amelia took over. "For some reason she stayed there for ten thousand years. Allanya went in after her to guard Univix and help others pass through."

"We fought her and accidentally forced her through the Well of Monsters again, bringing her back to the real world. Reyva chimed in.

"So, we know she's immortal, can change her shape, and commands every monster in the Magical Dimension." Dhalia said.

"That pretty much sums it up." Artis said.

"Girls?" Perdi's voice held a slightly confused edge. "What happens when you go through Univix a second time? And how was Allanya able to enter Univix? She clearly has magic, so how did she return to Univix, where magic is not allowed?"

There was a silence. How did Allanya re-enter Univix? After all, they had no way of doing so. They were only able to enter Univix the first time because they'd surrendered their powers, but, according to Arcadia, the Magix power could not be taken away. It was too close to the source of magic for magic to remove it.

"There's only one person who can answer that question." Amelia said. "We have to return to the Golden Kingdom and talk to Arcadia. She's the only one who can tell us what we need to know."

Suddenly the room seemed to jump and a muffled explosion shook the air.

"What was that?" Perdi demanded.

"Let's find out." Dhalia commanded. They raced to the door.

* * *

The city was under attack. Hordes of monsters were approaching from the west. Some of the most fearsome creatures in legend were leading the charge.

Dhalia started reeling off orders. "Perdi, Reyva, send out the alarm. Artis, find out what we're up against. Amelia, is she here?"

"No." Amelia said. "I can't sense her magic aura."

"Interdimensional Telepathy!" Reyva and Perdi shouted. Perdi quickly focused on sending a telepathic call for help to every fairy, witch, and hero across the entire universe.

"Time Flash!" Artis seemed to blur, vanished for a moment, then returned. "I couldn't get an exact count, but it looks like several million monsters. I think the biggest problems are the Veccan Dragons, the Gallayan Beasts, and the Thersis Drones."

"Alright girls, we have to defend Magix." Dhalia said.

"Almost everyone's out on patrol!" Reyva exclaimed. "We're the only strong fairies left in Magix!"

"So what?" Dhalia challenged. "We're still going to fight."

"We can't win against an army that large!" Artis said.

"Then we slow it down." Dhalia's voice held the unbreakable determination of a leader. "We can't win, but we can buy time for the others to arrive. Let's do this.

"Let's go Magix!"

(Cue transformation music)

The five girls rose into the sky. Joining them were about fifty other fairies, a similar number of witches, and about thirty specialists from Red Fountain. Less than a hundred and fifty to fight an army of millions. Fortunately, the Trix were there too. They weren't as powerful as they once were, but they were still some of the strongest witches around. They flew toward the western edge of the city.

"We have to evacuate the civilians!" Dhalia shouted. "Basic level fairies, get these people out of here!"

Normally, no one would have payed any attention to Dhalia, but faced with an oncoming horde, the panicky fairies were desperate for any sort of authority. They immediately obeyed, and twenty three fairies dove back into the city.

"Specialists, on the ground! Witches, stop the flying monsters! Fairies, cover the Specialists!" Dhalia was belting out orders without even thinking about it, but in the current situation, no one questioned her. "Trix, with me!"

The Trix flew over. "What is it, fairy?" Icy asked. She might have reformed, but she hadn't lost her sneer.

"I need the three of you to serve as the reserve. Knowing Eclipsis, she probably has a surprise waiting for us."

"What about you five?" Darcy asked. "What are you going to do?"

"Break that army." Dhalia said. "We have to hold this army off until reinforcements arrive. Our powers let us do things no one else can, and we've put a lot of thought into how we can use our powers. However, you three are our strongest fighters, and if something goes wrong, I need you to be ready to handle it." With that Dhalia turned away and flew towards the endless ranks of the monsters, her friends following behind her.

* * *

"Come on girls, let's do this." Dhalia said. "Reyva, with me."

"Right!"

"Arits, Perdi, you know what to do."

"I've been wanting to try this one."

"Amelia, cover us."

"Got it."

They split off, preparing their spells.

"Kinetic Crush!" Reyva and Dhalia yelled. Suddenly a mass of monsters ceased moving, all their energy having been trapped in a single point. Then that point exploded. The massive amount of energy tore through the army's ranks in a torrent of heat, light, sound, and electricity.

"Thought Freeze!" Perdi and Artis had come up with this spell several months ago, but they'd never had a good opportunity to use it. Basically, it froze the monsters' minds in time. Their bodies started twitching as the nerves received the same commands over and over again. Some of the monsters died when their hearts stopped, no longer receiving the instructions to keep pumping, while other monsters' hearts began beating at several times their normal rate.

"Thaumic Rays!" Amelia yelled, bringing her hands together. Beams of pure magical energy began firing from her body, scouring the ground with deadly force.

They destroyed hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of the beasts. But millions still remained.

"We're throwing everything we've got at them!" Reyva yelled.

"But they aren't even noticing!" Artis cried.

"We have to keep fighting!" Dhalia shouted. "We have to buy time for the others to get here!"

Suddenly there was a flash of light. The emergency response teams had arrived, along with Bloom and Tecna. Robotic warriors joined the Specialists on the ground while the most powerful fairies in the Magical Dimension joined the battle in the air. Additional reinforcements began to trickle in, and the battle escalated. The army of monsters was slowly being driven back.

Suddenly Bloom dropped back, pulling Dhalia aside. "Listen, I just got a message from Queen Roxanne of Earth. Eclipsis is there."

"What?"

"I can't leave this battle. I'm too powerful to be spared, but you and your team can go. Go to Earth, find Eclipsis, and figure out what she's doing there. She's your mission."

"We won't let you down Bloom." She turned away. "Girls, we've done our part here. Eclipsis is on Earth, and we're going after her!"

The five Magix fairies came together. "Spacial Rift!" And they were gone.

**A/N: Well, Eclipsis just raised the stakes. But what's she doing on Earth? How did Allanya re-enter Univix? And what effect does passing through Univix twice have on someone? You'll find out.**

**Bestiary Entries:  
-Veccan Dragons are the largest dragons in the universe. Some of them could be confused for a small mountain when curled up. They don't breath fire, but they do spit poison. They have wings, but by the time they're ten years old they become too heavy to fly. Their scales are harder than steel, but much more brittle, meaning that the first successful attack will leave them much more vulnerable. Unlike smaller dragons, they simply cannot be tamed.  
-Gallayan Beasts are some of the nastiest things with fur. Standing just over thirty feet tall at the shoulder, they look like over sized mice. Only thing is, these "mice" have four foot long fangs that can chew through solid rock and massive razor sharp claws. What makes them particularly dangerous is their speed. Gallayan beasts have been clocked at nearly one hundred and twenty miles per hour.  
-Thersis Drones don't look like much, but even a Veccan Dragon is no match for one of these things. Thersis Drones are relatively small, only about a foot in length. Their snake-like bodies have two pairs of wings, which they use to fly with great mobility. Their fangs have needle sharp points, but their main weapon is the spike on the ends of their tails. These spikes are as hard as diamonds, and the venom they contain will kill a Veccan Dragon in less than an hour from a single sting. A typical fairy will die in about thirty seconds unless treated. What makes these things truly terrifying is their tendency to form swarms. Like locusts, when there's not enough food to go around, thousands of them will gather into a living cloud, scouring the land before them of all life.**

**On a less horrifying note, I recently ********saw the new Winx Club episode, and I have to say, much better! I was really dissatisfied with the last two episodes, particularly with how easily everyone but Flora got their Bloomix. Personally, I would have treated Bloomix the same way Enchantix was, with each girl getting their own episode in which they obtain the new power. However, I can't really find fault with how Bloom got her new powers, and the CGI in that scene was very well done. Speaking of which, I may overcome my dislike for Diaspro yet. Sure she's a villain, but this time she's a _good_ villain, not some spoiled drama queen gossip girl. Also, Daphne is doing exactly what she should be doing: Fighting alongside the Winx, not conducting research. Overall, a much better episode. Although I do wish they'd gone into more detail with the "Fire Eaters" that attacked.**

******I'm still not a fan of either Aisha's or Stella's new looks, probably because of the hair. I mean seriously, who thought giving Aisha that hairstyle was a good idea? As for Stella, I can see how some people might like it, but that weird double ponytail thing? No, not for me. Predictably, Musa and Tecna have the best transformations. I absolutely love Tecna's new wings, and Musa's not to shabby either. Bloom's transformation was pretty decent, and her new look is pretty good too. As for Flora, at first I was kind of indifferent towards her new look, but it's starting to grow on me. Sorry! I couldn't help myself! No, put those down! **

****** See you all next chapter. Hopefully the crowd will have run out of rotten tomatoes by then...**


	5. Sibling Rivalry

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Winx Club. Why do I have to keep putting these things up? They're boring! Oh, that's right, it's because I'm a poor college student who doesn't want to get sued into next week. Actually, this week was rather unpleasant, between work, school, and everything else. Maybe next week is better? This bears thinking on...**

**Someone asked me to rank the Winx, from my most to least favorite. Well, here goes.**

**My favorite Winx is Bloom. Before you all get up and leave, let me explain _why_ I like Bloom. I don't care all that much about what she looks like, or how powerful she is. What I do care about is her character development. She started out as a sixteen year old girl who gets thrust into a world where she doesn't understand the rules. She's afraid of everything, including herself. But she grows, becomes more confident, learns how things work in the magical universe, and develops as a person. I like that. **

**I'm afraid we have a tie for second. I simply cannot decide between Tecna and Flora. They're both interesting characters, and in a lot of ways, they balance each other out. Flora is all about nature, emotion, and intuitive thinking, whereas Tecna is purely logical, using technology to accomplish the task at hand. In many ways they represent two different aspects of my own personality, which means I can identify with them both.**

**Musa pulls fourth for me. I can identify with her losing her mother, and I can admire her talent for music (something I lack), as well as her never-back-down attitude, but for some reason, Musa just doesn't click with me. Also, I have no idea what she sees in Riven, so there's that.**

**Aisha. You people call _Bloom_ a Mary-Sue! Aisha is much, much worse! She's perfect, from her athleticism, to her ability to befriend various magical creatures, to her tough-yet-vulnerable personality! Even her flaws are perfect! She's a stereotypical rebellious princess! Give me a break! And yes, I know she loses Nabu, and I shouldn't be too hard on her for that, but still, that just gives her an excuse to be a _brooding _Mary-Sue!  
**

**With a heavy heart, I must place Stella at number six. I used to like her. Up until season four she would have ranked fourth on this list. But season four saw the beginning of Stella's regression into a spoiled brat. Every time I revisit the first three seasons I'm always struck by how much more mature Stella was and how much more useful she was. I mean, in season one she was pretty much the leader of the Winx! Now she's the last person you'd want leading the team.**

**Alright, that took up a lot of space and I've got a lot to cover in this chapter, so let's get moving. We're about to uncover some of Perdi's dirty little secrets...**

Five fairies emerged from a tear in the sky over an Earth city. It sprawled across a huge island nestled between two rivers. In the harbor a massive copper statue stood, holding aloft a torch.

"Where are we?" Dhalia asked. They were several thousand feet up, but she still had to shout to be heard over the noise of the city.

"I think this is New York City!" Perdi yelled back. "One of the biggest cities on Earth!"

"We need to find somewhere to rest!" Amelia shouted. "That battle left us drained."

"We can stay with my brother!" Perdi shouted. "Follow me!" She flew off to the south west.

Four pairs of eyebrows shot up. Perdi had a brother? This should be interesting.

Once they were clear of the city, Perdi stopped. "Okay, my brother lives about two hundred miles from here." She pointed to the south west. "Reyva, could you give us another portal?"

Reyva was tired, and her breathing was heavy, but all she said was "Sure."

"Spacial Rift!" The portal opened slowly, but it did open, and soon the fairies were over another city, although this one was much smaller and much quieter.

"We need to land." Dhalia panted. "Let's find a good spot to rest in the city."

"Wait!" Perdi said. "This isn't just any city. It's the capitol city of one of the largest nations on Earth. We can't just fly in, we have to land outside the city."

"Alright, just tell me your brother's close." Artis said, her wings barely able to keep her up.

"He lives in the city."

"Why would he be here in the first place?" Amelia asked.

"Because of the library. This city is home to one of the two largest libraries on Earth."

"Oh. Now I understand."

"I'll let him know we're here." Perdi said, putting her fingers to her temples. "But we may have to walk."

"As long as we don't have to fly or use magic, I'm okay with that." Artis said.

* * *

They soon entered the city Perdi called "Washington, DC". Artis almost laughed the first time she heard the name, it was so strange. In many ways it resembled any other city, but it had been designed and built without magic, and without magic in mind. It was also a strange mix of architectural styles, with some buildings having large columns of stone, while others were made of brick or wood. Various structures that seemed to serve no purpose were scattered across the landscape, and parks were almost as common as buildings.

"Okay girls, we're looking for the Magix Embassy." Perdi said. "It's close to the White House."

"Which white house?" Reyva asked. "I've seen dozens of white houses."

"Not _a_ white house, _the_ White House." Perdi said. "It's where the leader of this nation lives."

"Oh, you mean like a palace?" Artis asked.

"Sort of, but the leader isn't a king."

"Then what is he?" Amelia asked.

"They call him the President, and once every four years the people of the nation vote on who the president should be for the next four years."

"So they change leaders every four years?" Dhalia asked.

"Not always. In fact, they usually decide to keep the person for a second four years."

"So, they can put the same person in charge for a long time." Amelia reasoned.

"Well, no. A person can only be President for eight years. After that they can't be put in charge again."

"This is making my head hurt." Artis complained. "Why couldn't they be sensible and have a king and a queen like everyone else?"

"Well, about two hundred years ago-"

"Forget I asked." Artis said.

"Well, we're here." Perdi said.

The five girls looked up at a building that could have been plucked straight from Magix. It looked rather out of place amongst all these other buildings, but it also looked like home. Nervous, they marched up to the front gate.

"Should we knock or something?" Artis asked.

"I don't think so." Amelia said. "It don't think this gate is a real gate. In fact..." She took a step forwards and went straight through the closed gate. "Just as I thought." She said. "It's a magical barrier designed to keep out non-magical beings. We can just walk right through it."

The five fairies entered the Magix Embassy compound. In addition to the main building which stretched five stories into the air, there were also several smaller buildings scattered around the small courtyard. Perdi quickly made for one of these smaller buildings which had the look of a house.

"My brother is in that building." Perdi said. "He's throwing off so much mental energy that it's making it hard for me to sense anyone else."

She opened the door. Inside was a room filled with books, scrolls, sheets of notes, six computers, two projectors, and a fully functional coffee maker with over three hundred different options. Unlike Perdi's room at Alfea, which was usually quite neat and orderly, this room was complete chaos. Sitting at the desk in the center of the room was a man in his mid-twenties, hunched over a book.

"Anthony, it's me, Perdi." There was no response.

"Okay, let's try this. Albert. It's me, Perdilla." Still no response from the man, who simply turned to the next page and resumed his examination of the book.

"Wonder where Perdi gets it from?" Artis whispered to Amelia, who barely managed to contain her laughter.

"Albert Anthony Sophus, this is your sister, Perdilla." The man scowled, but judging by his intense focus, this was probably because of what he was reading.

"Alright, I guess this is the only way." Perdi drew in a deep breath, visibly bracing herself, before opening her mouth once more. "Alby Anty, it's me, Perdi!"

This got the man's attention. In one movement he turned in his chair, stood up, and loomed over Perdi. An impressive feat, given that she was the tallest of the girls. "Athena Perdilla Sophus, I've told you before never to refer to me as 'Alby Anty'."

"Perdi's first name is Athena?" Reyva interrupted. "Why is that?"

"Please, I don't like going by my first name." Perdi said. "Athena was a fairy from my realm who decided to move to Earth about two and a half thousand years ago. The humans mistook her for a goddess. It's embarrassing to be called that."

"Hey, look on the bright side." Amelia said. "You could have been named after that wizard from my realm who went to Earth a little later."

"True. Janus would make for an odd name." Perdi's brother said. "Wait, what are you doing here Perdilla? And who are these four?"

"Hi, my name is Dhalia. This is Amelia, Artis, and Reyva." She pointed to each fairy in turn. "We're here to find Eclipsis. She's been spotted on Earth, and Bloom sent us after her."

"Eclipsis?" Albert asked. "She's a myth."

"Have you read _any_ of the letters I sent you?" Perdi asked. "Or even poked your head out long enough to hear the news?"

"Of course I've read your letter. The one you sent when you started classes at Alfea, right?"

"That was over six months ago! I sent you a letter every month!"

"You did?"

"Yes!"

"I don't remember getting any letters from you."

"Would these be the letters in question Perdi?" Amelia held up a stack of sealed envelopes. The bottom one was starting to yellow.

"You didn't even open them? You're even worse than I am!"

"Well at least I don't have to carry a library with me everywhere I go!"

"Yeah, because the only places you do go _are_ libraries!"

"It's my job!"

"Well maybe you should pay more attention to the real world! It might make your job a little easier!"

"Easy you two." Dhalia said. Standing next to the two siblings her already short stature looked positively tiny, but the command in her voice was not to be ignored. "Now, let's start from the beginning."

* * *

"So Eclipsis is real, you lost your powers, got new, stronger ones, started a war, and now you're chasing the immortal queen of monsters, who was just sighted on Earth."

"That pretty much sums it up." Reyva said.

"We were going to go straight after her, but we used too much of our power in the battle at Magix." Dhalia said. "We need to rest and restore our strength before we can face Eclipsis again. Perdi suggested we stay with you."

"Well, the embassy has been much less full these past few months. Now I know why. I'll see about finding you girls a place to sleep."

"Good, because Amelia is about to fall asleep on your computer." Artis said from over by the coffee machine. She'd heard of a type of coffee called a "frappachino" that came from Earth, and she was determined to see if it lived up to the hype. So far she hadn't figured out how to get the coffee machine to do what she wanted, but it was only a matter of time before she got the thing working.

"Oh, yes." Albert glanced over at Amelia. Her eyes were half-closed and she was swaying on her feet. Fortunately Reyva managed to catch her before she fell. "For now you can sleep in the dormitory where guests usually stay. I'll let someone know you're here."

"Make sure you contact Queen Roxanne too." Perdi yawned. "Bloom sent us here because of a message from the Queen."

"I'll take care of it, just go to bed Perdi."

"Good night."

**A/N: Why is everyone looking at me like that? Oh, you expected me to send them to Tir Nan Og, or Gardenia, didn't you? Well, I have my reasons. For one, they needed rest, and Bloom's adoptive parents are probably in their fifties, or maybe even sixties, by now. I really don't think it would be fair to inflict five fairies on them. Two, sending them to Gardenia would be boring, and sending them to Tir Nan Og wouldn't work because if you remember, entrance into Tir Nan Og is by invitation only. They're going to have to meet with an Earth Fairy before going there. Also, this gives me a chance to explore Perdi's past, human mythology, and the effects powerful fairies would have on early civilization. I'm having fun here, and I hope you are too.**

**I'm glad to finally have a chapter without a major struggle going on, and the biggest difficulty is getting through to Perdi's oblivious brother. We were about due for some comic relief, especially in light of the bestiary entries from the last chapter. At this rate I may end up giving myself nightmares. I apologize for any nighttime trauma my story has or will inflict on any of my poor unsuspecting readers.**

**And yes, I am actually going to work the frappacino into the story. Call it an easter egg or something.**

**Fair warning, the next chapter is going to be a lot more intense. Break's over, back to the wars. I hope to see everyone there. Until next time, take care.**


	6. The Price of War

**Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club. Does anyone actually enjoy writing these things? Or reading them? Anyone? Put your hands down, lawyers don't count!**

**Hey everyone, just wanted to remind you all that I'm still looking for suggestions for a name for the five girls. Unfortunately all the easy names are taken. I've received a few suggestions, but so far there's really only one that even has a chance. I like it, but it's a little awkward, and I'm hoping there's something better out there. So if you have an idea, please send me a message, leave it in a review, whatever method you'd like to use. I probably won't make the final decision for a while yet, so there's plenty of time.  
Note, I'm looking for an actual name, not a title. Sorry Cyborg, but CL5 is really more of a title that is earned, rather than a name.  
Also, it does not have to end in an "x". If you have a great idea for a name, but it doesn't end in an x, don't worry, it will still be taken into consideration.**

**You may have noticed that I've done my best to work both physics and mythology into my story. For the physics, it's a lot of fun, and it also gives the world more depth, making it so I don't have to resort to the rather lame argument of "it's magic" whenever I want to do something weird. As for the mythology, where else would I go to find inspiration for monsters? So far I haven't taken any creatures directly from existing myths, but the influence is there. In chapter four, the Veccan Dragons were inspired by the Drakons (related to dragons, but not the same) of Greek myth, the Thersis Drones were inspired by the Uraeus of Egyption mythology and the Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs, and the Gallayan Beasts were inspired by Fenris from Norse mythology. With so many cultures to draw monsters from, I doubt I'll ever run out. It makes one wonder though, where did all these myths come from?**

**Enough about the real world, let's get back to the story.**

A groggy Amelia made her way down the stairs of the dormitory and over to the embassy cafeteria. All four of the other girls were already there. Amelia trudged over to the counter and grabbed her breakfast, then made her way over to the table.

"Wake up Amelia." Reyva's voice was maddeningly cheerful. "We've got a big day ahead."

Amelia just groaned. She hated mornings with a passion. How did Reyva wake up so happy?

"Reyva, what have we told you about bothering people in the morning?" Dhalia said.

"I'm not bothering anyone." Reyva said, doing her best to look innocent. However, the odds were stacked against her, given her size.

"_Sure_ you're not." Artis said over her coffee. She'd finally found a frappuccino. It wasn't bad, but she preferred the Magix blends. Also, for the most part, she was of the opinion that coffee should be hot. Cold coffee was okay at times, but as a general rule, coffee was best when heated. Well, at least the earthlings seemed to like it.

"Reyva, it's no use trying to lie to the fairy of thoughts." Perdi said.

The girls laughed.

* * *

When they finished eating they gathered their plates and placed them in the appropriate places.

"Alright, we've spent too much time here already." Dhalia said. "Bloom seemed to think the message was urgent, and we've already wasted about twelve hours. The battle's probably finished by now."

"I don't think so." Amelia said. "I can still sense huge amounts of magical energy being used. I doubt I'd be able to sense it across dimensions if it wasn't from a pitched battle. The fight is still going. If anything, it's gotten bigger."

"Perhaps Eclipsis sent more monsters to reinforce the first wave?" Artis wondered. "Maybe she was relying on the first wave to tire the army out and the second wave to finish the job?"

"Maybe." Dhalia said. "But I think her main goal was to get our entire army in one place."

"Why would she do that?"

"Two possible reasons. One, she wants a decisive victory, and she's hoping this will win her the war. Two, she wants all our attention focused on the invasion of Magix while she does something else. Of the two, I think the second is more likely. Otherwise, why would she be here? If she wanted to win the battle in Magix she'd have gone there in person."

"What could she be after that's worth the loss of such a massive army?" Reyva wondered.

"I don't know." Dhalia said. "But we need to report to Queen Roxanne."

* * *

The five fairies gathered in the central courtyard of the embassy. Perdi's brother was there too.

"You need to head to the town of Gardenia. That's where the entrance to Tir Nan Og is these days." Albert said. "Both Queen Roxanne and Bloom actually grew up there, and the Winx lived there for several years. The place has a lot of sentimental value for them."

"I remember learning about Gardenia back in elementary school." Artis said. "I didn't know it was the connection point to Tir Nan Og."

"It's only been that way since Lady Nebula stepped down and Roxanne took the throne."

"Still, that was six years ago." Artis said. "You'd think we would have heard about this."

"It wasn't widely publicized." Perdi said. "I only heard about it because Albert was just starting his project here at the time."

"It's time to go." Dhalia said. "Reyva?"

"Spacial Rift!"

As always, the portal opened and the girls stepped through.

* * *

They stepped out into a park. The gently rolling landscape (one couldn't quite call it hills) was covered in perfectly maintained grass. It was dotted with trees, both as individuals and in small patches of forest. the air was fresh and gentle. All in all, an excellent place to spend an afternoon just lying about.

"Come on girls, let's find the entrance to Tir Nan Og." Dhalia said. "Amelia?"

"I think we're close." She said. "There! That area!" She pointed at one of the groups of trees. The fairies started walking.

"So, Perdi," Artis asked. "what's this project your brother's working on?"

"Well, he was sent here to study Earth's culture, and see how the loss of magic had affected it. Also, when Earth fell to the Wizards of the Black Circle, we lost access to most of Earth's history. Albert's job was also to try and gather up everything we'd lost, and everything we missed while we were out of touch."

"Oh, so that's what he's been doing here." Artis said. "I was wondering why he was on Earth."

"Girls, I think we're here." Amelia said.

In front of them was a portal with two fairies guarding it. They immediately turned to the five girls.

"State your business." One of the fairies demanded.

"We're here to see Queen Roxanne. Bloom sent us." Amelia said.

"Why do you have to see the Queen?" The second fairy asked.

"Bloom sent us to deal with Eclipsis." Dhalia said.

"Why didn't she come herself?"

"She can't. Magix was attacked by millions of monsters. The battle is still going on. Bloom couldn't be spared from the fighting, she's the only one strong enough to defeat some of the monsters there. So she sent us instead."

"And who are you?"

"My name is Dhalia, the Fairy of Energy. This is Perdi, Fairy of Thought, Artis, Fairy of Time, Reyva, Fairy of Reality, and Amelia, Fairy of Magic."

One of the two fairies scowled. "How dare you come here?" She demanded. "You're the ones who released Eclipsis in the first place! You're nothing but a bunch of traitors."

"It was an accident." Dhalia said weakly. "We didn't know what we were doing."

"Lies! Of course you knew what you were doing!" She spat. "Witch!"

Dhalia flinched. She should have thought about it. She should have realized pushing Eclipsis into the Well of Monsters would release her. But she hadn't, and now the entire universe was paying the price.

"She had no idea what would happen!" Amelia sprang to the defense of her friend. "We were just trying to survive! We didn't have time to think things through!"

"So you released her to save yourselves?" The fairy growled. "Just what I should have expected! Your selfish needs lead to the whole disaster anyways!"

"What? That's not true!"

"Oh really? Who was it who decided she needed to get her own powers?"

"Me, but-"

"So you admit it! The only reason you and your friends went to that place was to get your own powers! And then, instead of letting yourself die, you condemned millions of others to death!"

"Hey!" Reyva shouted. "Back off!"

"And you!" The irate fairy turned on Reyva. "You're the one who personally pushed Eclipsis into the Magic Dimension! By your own admission!"

"It was a mistake!" Reyva said. "We never had a chance to think it through! We didn't realize what would happen!"

"Liars! Why should I believe any of you?" The fairy was shrieking at this point.

"Who was it?" Artis asked in a voice as gentle as a feather.

"What?"

"Who was it? Who did you lose?"

"None of your business! You're just as bad as the others!"

"If you don't wish to tell me, that's your choice. I could find out myself, but I won't. Nor will I ask Perdi to take it from your mind. It's your choice to make whether to tell us or not. Whoever it was, you have my sympathy. But we've all lost friends and family in this war. My home was one of the first to be attacked, and some of my friends did not survive." Artis walked over the fairy and put her hand on the older woman's shoulder. "If I could go back and change everything, I would, but even I can't change the past. I can see it, I can learn from it, but I can't change it."

"Why not?" The fairy was almost whining. "You're the Fairy of Time, just go back and change things!"

"I can't. If I were to try that and succeed, it would do irreparable damage, but I would probably die from the effort before I even did anything. I can control the flow of time, even stop it in its tracks, but I can't make it go backwards any more than you can make water flow uphill."

"Then he's gone." The fairy said, tears forming in her eyes. "I'll never get to see him again."

"No, you won't. I'm sorry."

"I never even got to say goodbye." The fury that had dominated the fairy was gone, leaving just a broken girl. "I never got to see him, one last time."

"I can't bring him back. But I can let you see him again, if only for a little bit."

"You can?"

"Yes. Just tell me who and when."

The other girls were standing off to the side.

"How does she do it?" Perdi asked. "I can read minds, but this..."

"You read minds Perdi." Amelia said. "Artis reads people."

"Huh?"

"There's a difference between thoughts and emotions Perdi." Dhalia said. "You live in a world of thoughts. Emotion is a stranger to you. Artis lives in a world of emotion. She doesn't think, she feels."

"I still don't get it."

"Someday Perdi, you will.

Suddenly a small image sprang into being where Artis and the other fairy stood. It stayed for a few minutes, then faded. The fairy hugged Artis, sobbing into her shirt. Artis simply put her arms around the fairy, gently patting her back, holding her as the storm took its course. Finally the two separated. A small watery smile was on the fairies face.

"Thank you Artis." She said. "Thank you for letting me see him, just one last time."

"You're welcome. I'm so sorry we brought this on you, but we're trying to fix it. We came here to stop Eclipsis, but first we need to speak to the Queen. May we enter Tir Nan Og?"

"Yes." the fairy took a step back and touched the edge of the portal. It flashed for a moment before returning to its normal state. "And Artis?"

"Yes?"

"Make sure you beat her. Make her pay for everything she's done."

"We will."

The five young girls gathered in front of the portal. One by one they entered. Artis was the last one. Just before stepping through, she turned to the fairy and gave her a small sad smile. "We'll win this one for you. You can count on it."

**A/N: *sniff* *sniff* Huh? Oh! Sorry guys. Wow, that was emotional. That poor fairy. But this is a war, and death is part of war. But it's not the dead we should feel sorry for. It's the ones they left behind. The ones who have just lost their entire world. I can tell you, from personal experience, it's one of the worst pains a person can feel. When my father died it almost destroyed me, and even now, eight years later, it still hurts. It hurts to know I'll never see him again, never hear his voice, never be able to feel him hug me again. But we move on. We recover, even if we never fully heal. For anyone who has lost a loved one, this chapter is for you.**

**They've reached Tir Nan Og. Queen Roxanne of Earth awaits. But what _is_ Eclipsis doing on Earth anyways, and what could be worth the destruction of that massive army? What makes Earth so special? You'll have to wait and see, but I promise it will be worth the wait.**

**Alright, time for more questions. I know I left a lot of loose ends lying around this time, and some of them are more important than others. If you have a question, let me know and I'll see about answering it in chapter seven. Remember though, no spoilers.**

**That's it for now, I hope to see you all next chapter. **


	7. Queen Roxanne

**Disclaimer #23: I do not own Winx Club.**

**I want to thank all my readers for their support and patience. This is the first chapter I've had to rewrite, and it was like pulling teeth to get it fixed. I finally made the decision to split the old chapter into two to give me more time and space to work with, and even so, this is the longest chapter I've written to date. As unpleasant as the rewriting process was, I think it was the right call, and I think the chapter has been much improved by it. Hopefully this will not happen again. Now, on with the new and improved version of the story!**

The five girls exited the portal onto a beautiful beach of pure white sand. They were now on the mystical island of Tir Nan Og. Looking inland, a majestic castle rose from a vast pristine forest. Numerous wild animals roamed freely and without conflict. A lion and a gazelle were walking side by side, while a jaguar watched over a trio of fawns.

"This is it girls." Dhalia said. "We need to go to the castle and find the Queen. Let's get going."

They started walking along a well-worn path to the castle. Along the way they met several fairies, most of whom were obviously delivering messages. One fairy however, was simply relaxing with the animals.

Her pink hair hung halfway down her back, but it was a complete mess. Amelia spotted three birds in the young woman's tangled locks. Her clothing was simple, well suited to a day of hiking and romping around with the animals on the island. She glanced up as the five fairies approached. She raised her right hand to wave, her left hand continuing to pet the gorgeous white tiger standing beside her.

"Hello, I don't believe I've seen you before. Are you new Earth Fairies?"

"No, we're from Alfea." Artis said. "Bloom sent us here to help stop Eclipsis. We're here to meet with the Queen."

"Odd. I'd have thought Bloom would come herself."

"She wanted to, but Magix is under siege." Dhalia said. "Eclipsis sent a massive army to attack the city. Millions of monsters."

"And only Bloom has the strength to turn the tide." The fairy sighed. "Well, you should probably get going. With Eclipsis on the loose there's no time to waste." And with that the girl turned and disappeared into the forest.

* * *

"So, what do we do when we find Eclipsis?" Artis asked. "How can we stop her?"

"I don't know." Dhalia's frustration was obvious. She'd been struggling with this question for months, but she'd yet to find an answer. "We can't kill her; she's immortal. We can't take away her magic for the same reasons no one can take away our powers. I suppose we could try banishing her to another dimension, but that didn't work out so well the last time someone tried it."

"Maybe we could imprison her." Amelia offered. "Between the five of us, we should be able to keep her in check."

"Nope. I had Perdi look into that." Dhalia said. "Perdi?"

"We could trap her with our magic," Perdi began. Amelia's face brightened momentarily. "But the effort would kill us and only buy the Magic Dimension a few years. A decade at most."

"Oh." Amelia seemed to deflate.

"We'll just have to figure something out when we face her." Reyva put all the confidence she could muster into her voice.

"I wish we could remove the dark magic from her." Amelia said. "Then she would go back to being a normal woman."

"You know that's impossible." Artis's voice was unusually sharp. "Her powers come from Univix. They can't be removed."

"I know." Amelia said cautiously. "Just wishful thinking."

"Girls, we're here." Perdi said.

* * *

Indeed they were. The castle before them looked like something out of a storybook. It's numerous towers rose into the sky and the arches which made up the walls made the massive construct look almost dainty. In front of them the gates stood open.

"Were we expected?" Reyva asked.

"Indeed you were." The woman they had met on the path had somehow beaten them to the castle and now stepped into the entrance hall. Her hair had been straightened, the dust cleaned off her face, and her simple outfit had been replaced by an elaborate gown. On her head sat a crown.

For a moment the five girls stood in stunned silence. Then-

"You? You're Queen Roxanne of Earth?" Artis blurted out. "But you were just-"

"Yes, I was. I always try to make the time every day to spend with my friends. Particularly the white tiger you saw me with. It lets me get away from the pressures of being Queen, if only for a little while."

Dhalia was starting to recover. Unsure of what else to do, she launched into the speech she'd prepared. "Your Majesty, we come on behalf of Bloom of Domino, who-" She cut off. The Queen was laughing too hard to hear her anyways.

"You-you rehearsed that-didn't you?" Queen Roxanne gasped out between breaths.

"...Yes." Dhalia said sheepishly.

"I see Bloom didn't have a chance to really explain things to you." The Queen was still chuckling. "Please, don't call me 'Your Majesty' and I'd prefer if you'd avoid calling me Queen either. Please just call me Roxanne, or Roxy if you're feeling brave."

"Uh, yes, You- I mean, of course Roxy." Dhalia managed.

"Much better! Please, come in!"

* * *

Roxy lead them to a small informal meeting room. Another fairy was waiting there.

"Hello Nebula."

"My Queen."

"When are you going to get over that formality of yours?"

"When you no longer need to be reminded that you're Queen."

"And when will that be?"

The older fairy did not answer.

"I need to have a chat with these girls, could you handle anything that comes up while I do so?"

"It would be my pleasure." With that the dark-haired fairy swept out of the room.

"Was that _the_ Nebula?" Perdi asked. "Traitor, then Queen?"

"Yes, although she thinks the term Regent would have been more appropriate." Roxy settled herself into one of the many large comfortable chairs in the room. From the way she sat, the girls got the sense that this was HER chair, and woe to anyone else who dared to sit in it. "Please, sit down."

They hurried to comply. Dhalia sat in the chair directly opposite Roxy's, while Artis and Perdi grabbed the couch to the side. Amelia settled into another chair, while Reyva remained standing.

"Come on Reyva, what's the matter?" Dhalia asked. "Are you worried about a repeat of what happened at Red Fountain? Relax, these chairs are much sturdier."

"But-"

"Reyva, the Queen asked you to sit. So sit!"

Reyva sat.

"I take she's had bad experiences with seating equipment?" Roxy asked.

"Yes. The chair she sat on was designed to hold a normal fairy, not a fairy who has more muscle than most of the Specialists." Artis explained as Reyva blushed so fiercely it was noticeable even through her dark skin. "It did not survive the encounter."

"It was an accident! How was I supposed to know that the chair could only support a hundred and seventy pounds?"

"Rest assured, these chairs will not collapse on you." Roxy said with a smile. "Now, I don't believe we've been properly introduced."

"Oh, right." Dhalia said. "My name is Dhalia, and I am the Fairy of Energy. This is Perdi, Fairy of Thought, Reyva, Fairy of Reality, Artis, Fairy of Time, and Amelia, Fairy of Magic."

"Those are unusual powers." Roxy said, frowning slightly. "What realms are you from?"

"I'm from Oppositus." Amelia said.

"Teylan." Artis said.

"Whydel." Dhalia said.

"Invac." Reyva said.

"Intenia." Perdi finished.

"The realms of opposites, the unknown, illusions, the void, and information? That doesn't explain your powers."

"No, that's because these are not our original powers. We gave up our old powers when we went through Univix."

"Oh! That's who you are!" The confused expression on Roxy's face lifted. "Bloom told me about you!" The confusion was back. "I never thought she'd send you to deal with Eclipsis though."

"Well, we have fought Eclipsis before."

"Yes, and without magic too. And you came out completely unharmed. I just wish the same could be said for the fairies who found her on Earth."

"Oh, no..." Artis's voice was tight with fear.

"Twelve fairies found her. Only eight survived, and three of the others are badly wounded."

"I'm so sorry."

"All the more reason to stop her, before she can take any more innocent lives."

"That's why we're here." Dhalia said, her small form radiating a subtle confidence. "We don't know how to beat her for good, but with our unique abilities we should be able to at least slow her down."

"Something I'm wondering about..." Roxy turned towards the couch. "Artis, you're the Fairy of Time, right? Couldn't you just go back and change things?"

Artis sighed. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd explained that no, she could not go back in time. At least she'd gotten a chance to practice. "I can't do that Roxy." She said. "Imagine a river heading for a waterfall. That's what time is like. Until the water reaches the falls, it's easy to control. You can slow it down, you can speed it up, you can divert it to somewhere else. But once it reaches the falls, you can't control it. I can't change what has already happened any more than I can make a waterfall go uphill. It's beyond my powers."

"So you can't travel through time." Roxy said.

"No, but I can manipulate time."

"I see."

"If it were easy we'd have put a stop to her months ago." Dhalia said. "But none of our powers are strong enough to do it."

"Oh. I should have thought of that."

"We do have one advantage though. Amelia can sense when Eclipsis is nearby, and if she concentrates she can search the whole planet for her."

"Good. One of her biggest advantages is her ability to hide by changing her shape. If Amelia can find her then we can stop her." Roxy turned to Amelia. "Why can you sense her anyways?"

"I don't know." Amelia's face was troubled. "It's like I have some sort of connection with her. I just don't know what it is. I can sense other people too, but not as easily."

"Well, that's one problem out of the way." Roxy said decisively. "But that leaves the real question. What do we do when we find her?"

"Not you. You have to stay out of this fight Roxy." Another woman entered the room. "You're too important to the fragile peace here to be risked."

"But what if they need my help?"

"With their powers I'm sure they'll be just fine."

"But I want to help!"

"Roxy..." The older woman's voice held an edge of warning.

"But mom!"

"Morgana?" Perdi's glance had turned into a full-on stare.

"Yes dear. I am Morgana, the former Queen of Earth."

"...and an overprotective mother..." Roxy muttered. Morgana just stared at her. "Fine, you win! I'll behave!"

"Good." The dowager queen nodded briskly before turning to the others. "Perhaps the castle's library can answer the question of how to defeat Eclipsis. Please, come with me."

"Ooh, a library? Yes, please!" Perdi was up and bouncing along in Morgana's wake in no time. Shaking their heads and grinning, the others rose and followed, although much more sedately.

**A/N: Does the castle's library hold the secret to defeating the Queen of Monsters? So far they haven't had much luck with libraries... Well, we'll have to see.**

**On another note, I ****_knew _****this would happen when I made Artis the Fairy of Time! I knew it! I knew I'd have to deal with the possibility of time travel, and I knew I'd have to nix it. But I also knew I had to come up with some sort of reasonable explanation for why it doesn't work. I have standards! Simply waving my hands around and saying it doesn't work is not good enough! There has to be a ****_reason_****! For the record, I am officially putting my foot down here and now: There Will Be No Time Travel In This Story. Good, that's settled.**

**Speaking of time, this gives me a good excuse to bring up a long standing complaint of mine about Winx Club: Time is really inconsistent in the show, and all the inconsistencies revolve around two people: Bloom and Roxy. In Bloom's case, she's sixteen at the start of the show. Domino was frozen after she was born, and her parents were taken after she was born. Since her parents were taken in the final battle between the Ancestral Witches and the Company of Light, clearly the Company of Light was disbanded at most sixteen years before the show starts, yet in the show they often say these events took place centuries ago. NO! Unacceptable! There is one, and only one possible excuse for this and that is that Daphne sent Bloom forward in time when she sent her to Earth, but it's a weak excuse. However, the next one has no excuse. Fairies have been gone from the Earth for centuries. Roxy is sixteen at the start of season four, and we know Morgana was still around when Roxy was at least a toddler, maybe three years old. Therefore, fairies were still on Earth no more than ten or twelve years before the start of season one! That means that there should have been at least a few running around when Bloom was little. NO! No excuses for this one! Clearly they're a little fuzzy on the concept of time over at Rainbow. However, what we can draw from this is that fairies live for a ****_long_**** time. Roxy may be in her early thirties in this story, but by fairy standards she's probably quite young, and so are the Winx. I'm not sure how important that is, but it's there.**

**Oh my, I really did not make Roxy particularly regal. In fact, this has got to be the second least regal fictional queen I've ever seen. But then again, I really have a hard time seeing Roxy as a typical queen, so I didn't even try to make her into one. She may be queen, but she's still just a girl at heart.**

**Something weird is going on. I deleted the old chapter, but the only reviews that were removed were the ones left by Cyborg, who doesn't have an account. Hopefully people can still leave new reviews, but this is very strange. If you have something you'd like to tell me, please send me a message.**

**One last reminder, please send in any questions you have, as well as any suggestions for a group name for the girls. Alright, I think that's everything. I'll see you all next chapter.**


	8. Voices of the Past

**.bulC xniW nwo t'nod I :remialcsiD****  
**

**Okay, enough fun with mirrors. A warm welcome to new member and first time commentator, but long time reader, alenadira2. No need to be shy, you're among friends here. You also had some interesting and much-needed suggestions for names for the girls. Don't underestimate yourself and your creativity, I've been trying to come up with a good name for the girls for almost two months now. Obviously, I have not been very successful in that regard. **

**Moving on. Oh dear Cyborg, you are so close to the truth, and yet so far away from it. The simple answer is no, they can't use Charmix or Enchantix to boost their powers. Also, as far as Charmix is concerned, they already have their Charmix. If they'd had powers they would have acquired their Charmix in Univix. The Magix transformation just superseded it.  
**

**Oh dear, it looks like I may have spoken too soon. I do have an idea of my own for the girls' name: Aiala. It's a word from a fictional language that means "Awakened". Well, I'll keep thinking about it. At some point I'll probably take some of the ideas I like and put it to a vote. Let the readers decide what to call their heroes! Not every idea will make it into the poll though. In the interest of fairness, I think I'll limit it to one idea per reader in the poll. So send in your ideas, and may the best name win!**

**Now, on with the story!**

Morgana led the six fairies into a well-lit room larger than some sports arenas. Bookshelves stretched from the floor to the vaulted ceiling far above. Perdi almost fainted at the sight.

"How are we ever going to search it all?" Amelia wondered. "It would take a life time just to read the covers of all of the books here!"

"Not quite." A fairy stepped out from between two of the bookcases, her auburn hair trailing behind her. "Assuming you dedicated twelve hours a day with no breaks, it would take about thirty-seven days. To read all the books however, would take millennia."

"Hello Fabula."

"Hello Morgana, Roxy." She nodded to the two Earth fairies. "How can I help you?"

"We're looking for information on Eclipsis." Morgana said. "Do you know where we should look?"

"Well, I can think of many myths that mention her, but I doubt any of them would be particularly useful." The fairy mused. "The problem is that she's been gone for so long that almost all record of her has been lost. I've never seen anything regarding her, but even I haven't read everything in the library. If we do have anything on her it would be in the most ancient parts of the library."

"Which are in the back. Thank you Fabula."

"You're welcome." The fairy disappeared back into the bookshelves.

"...Is she always that spooky?" Artis asked, shuddering.

"Yes." Morgana answered. "She haunts the library, and for anyone who disrespects her books, she's worse than any ghost you've ever heard of."

"...Right. I'll just keep my hands to myself."

"Come on Artis, we have work to do." Dhalia said.

"This way." Said Morgana, walking towards the back with Roxy in her wake. "And be careful. Fabula isn't the only thing you need to worry about down here."

"What does that mean?" Perdi wondered.

"Let's hope we don't find out." Amelia said.

The five visitors trailed after the two monarchs.

* * *

The library proved to be even larger than it looked, and it took them nearly an hour to reach the back end of the place. Along the way they'd seen the progression of writing throughout history. From the precise machine-made books of the modern age, to the early days of mechanical printing, to the printing press took over half of their journey. Mankind had become prolific in the last four centuries. Further back they encountered the hand-written books of the past, which gave way to scrolls, and finally clay tablets and story knots. Morgana paused here.

She stepped up to one of the tablets, beckoning the others forward. "This is one of the greatest treasures of this library." She said. "This is the oldest piece of writing created by humans."

"Wow." Perdi somehow managed to rush over without actually rushing and began to eagerly examine the tablet.

"If this is the oldest piece of writing created by humans, what's the rest of the library for?" Reyva asked.

"For the writings of fairies." Morgana said. "We have been writing for a long time. Long before humanity discovered the art for themselves."

They continued into the depths of the library.

* * *

This part of the library was dominated by scrolls with the occasional bound book. All of them were ancient beyond comprehension. A thin layer of dust covered everything, and it swirled up around them as they walked.

"How far back do we need to go?" Reyva's voice echoed in the still air.

"We're nearly there." Morgana said. "Very few things have survived ten thousand years."

They reached the back wall. A few dozen scrolls were mounted on the wall. All of them were protected by magicked glass. Most of them were already very badly damaged, and the ones that weren't were in a language so ancient it had been forgotten for millennia.

"These are the only records we have of when Eclipsis was last free." Morgana said.

"What do they say?" Dhalia asked.

"I do not know. I cannot read them. Even Fabula cannot decipher some of them."

"But I can." Perdi said, determination filling her slight frame. "Artis, I need your help."

"What are you going to do?" Roxy asked.

"We can't read the writing, and I doubt we could understand the language, but if this works, I will be able to read the thoughts of the ones who wrote these scrolls."

"How?" Roxy asked. "Even the Tracix wings don't let a fairy see that far into the past, let alone read someone's thoughts."

"You're right." Artis said. "I can't do this myself. Amelia, Dhalia, can you boost my power?"

"Of course." Amelia said.

"Just like we practiced." Dhalia said.

"Reyva, if something goes wrong, it could be a disaster." Perdi said. "Can you put a shield around us to contain the energy?"

"Better. I can put us in a bubble of reality. Nothing will be able to get out."

"Good." Perdi said.

"Morgana, Roxy, we need you stand back." Dhalia said. "Your powers aren't suited to this type of work."

"I understand." Morgana said. "Good luck."

"Alright then, let's get started." Artis said.

"Let's go Magix!"

(Cue transformation music)

"Universe Sphere!" The five fairies disappeared from sight, leaving a mirrored sphere where they had stood. Nothing could enter and nothing could leave. Light simply bounced off the surface.

Inside the sphere, the five fairies stood.

"Magic Boost!" Amelia cried, using her powers over magic to increase Artis's powers tenfold.

"Supercharge!" Dhalia yelled, copying Amelia. Her power flooded into Artis, raising her strength to incredible levels.

"_Sight and sound will not do/Reveal to us the past that's true/And pierce the veils of time and tide/Show us what the past may_ _hide!_" Artis chanted, holding her hands above her. The ancient scrying spell rippled out from her, creating a vision of the past. It rapidly sped backwards, showing flashes of battles, cities, celebrations, and tragedies. Back through time the spell went, taking five young girls with it, until finally, it stopped. A fairy sat in a cave writing. One of her wings was missing and blood flowed from her many wounds.**_  
_**

"It...worked." Arits panted through the strain of holding the spell.

"Perdi! We can't hold this for long!" Dhalia said.

"Right!" Perdi put her fingers to her temples. "Mind Sight!" She turned to her friends. "Thought Projection!"

_The war is over. Eclipsis has been forced back into Univix. Her son has been sealed away. But what of her daughter? Allanya said that she had been taken care of, and that it was "not her time". What does that mean? Perhaps I should ask Arcadia. Maybe she can explain what mom meant._

The fairy brushed back her hair. Dangling from her ear was an earring that held a stone of purest white. _Maybe she can also explain why I lost my powers and where mom found these earrings. And where mom's new powers came from. It's like she went through Univix all over again. I just wish she'd tell me what happened._

The fairy shifted again, clearly uneasy. _And now she's leaving again. Forever this time. She said she's returning to Univix, but she wouldn't tell me how. Or why for that matter. I don't want her to leave. Her grandchildren need her. I need her. __  
_

A tear trickled down the fairy's face. _She knows we need her. So why is she leaving us? The war may be over, but there's so much to rebuild! This isn't our home, but we turned it into our battlefield! We owe the people of this world our help! At least Allanya left the Blessing of Magic here. Soon there should be fairies here too. But how did she get that power? Why didn't she tell me anything?_

The fairy muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a curse. _Why would she go back to Univix? To keep watch over Eclipsis? Why does she care so much about Eclipsis? _The fairy shook her head. _And why do I get the feeling that this isn't over? Her son is still here. Who knows how long the seals will hold? And her daughter. Why do I feel like she's the missing piece to this puzzle?_

The fairy stood. _Her daughter. Why does she seem so important to me? And yet, I don't think it's me she's connected to. Maybe someone else will find her and solve this mystery. For now, we need to heal the damage done by this war._ She knelt down and grabbed the paper she'd been writing upon._ I record these words for my children and the children of Earth. I am Amelia, the daughter of Allanya, the Lady of Magic, and I will help this world to heal._

"I...can't...hold...Ahhh!" The spell shattered and Artis fell to the ground in a heap, her wings vanishing.

"Artis!" Amelia rushed forwards.

"Drop the barrier!" Dhalia yelled to Reyva. "She needs help!"

"I've got her!" Reyva said, picking up the insensate fairy. They were back in the library. Morgana and Roxy were staring at them.

"She needs to rest." Dhalia said.

"We'll take her to the guest chambers." Roxy said. "Or does she need medical help?"

"No, no, 'm fine." Artis said woozily. "Jus' tired. Need t' sleep." Her eyes closed again.

"The guest room it is." Dhalia said. "Lead the way."

**A/N: ****Okay, I guess I need to explain something here. ****The Blessing of Magic is where most fairies (and other magical beings) come from. When used on a realm, the spell causes people to develop magical abilities. This is why fairies, witches, pixies, etc. are so common. They aren't all descended from the original magic users, in fact, most of them have no relationship whatsoever to the original magic wielders.**

**I am so glad I decided to split chapter the old chapter seven into two chapters. It gives me so much more space in which to write the story.**

** Special thanks to fellow author Akela Victoire for allowing me to use her character Fabula, the Fairy of Literature. If you haven't seen her work yet, you really should check it out. She writes a bit of, well, everything, so there's something for everyone to enjoy.**

**That's it for now, and I'll see you all next chapter. Assuming college doesn't kill me first.**


	9. Standing Guard

**I started writing this chapter immediately after I uploaded chapter eight. Three tests, two essays, one power outage, a family birthday, a fifty hour work week, and**** six re-writes** later, it's finally done. I am so sorry this has taken this long, but the chapter just refused to come out right, and then life got in the way.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.**

**Sorry Cyborg, I didn't realize until after the fact that I didn't address Enchantix. They could earn Enchantix, but the Magix transformation is still stronger. The question is whether they'd get the side benefits of Fairy Dust and Miniaturization. Probably, but I've already got most of the story planned out, and the issue is not going to come up. Please note, Fairy Dust is a form of magic and would therefore not be effective against Eclipsis. As for the vision Amelia being our Amelia's grandmother, fairies live a long time, but not _that_ long. (Except for Arcadia. Special circumstances.) I'll explain everything in this chapter.  
**

**Miko647635, long time, no see. Where have you been? Thank you for the review, it gives me a perfect opportunity to explain my view of storytelling. You commented on my characters, and on my story. I'm of the opinion that they're one and the same. The characters _are_ the story. The events, the setting, the plot, everything else, they're all just there to give the characters a way to express themselves. I write about people, not things.**

**One last thing. This is officially the Last Call for names. When I publish chapter ten, I will take my favorites of the suggestions people have sent in and put them in a poll. Only one name per person will be placed in the poll, so send in your best!**

**On with the story!**

Dawn was breaking over Tir Nan Og. Artis sat in the dining hall of the castle, nursing a frappachino. The things were starting to grow on her. The other girls sat with her.

"So, what did we learn yesterday?" Dhalia said.

"Eclipsis had two children, a daughter and a son." Perdi said. "The son was sealed away here on Earth while Allanya took the daughter to an unknown location."

"Allanya also had a daughter." Reyva said. "Who somehow lost her powers, but was given a pair of earrings to replace them." She turned to Amelia. "I think they're the same pair Amelia now owns."

"Ten thousand years." Amelia said in the tone of someone whose understanding of the universe has been fundamentally altered. "She had my name."

"More likely you have her name." Artis said. "You look a lot like her. Perhaps she was a distant ancestor of yours."

"It makes sense." Reyva said. "But why did she lose her powers? And what about Allanya? It sounds like she lost her powers only to get new ones. What happened?"

"Only Arcadia can tell us what we need to know." Dhalia said. "But first we need to focus on the more immediate problem. Eclipsis's son is here on Earth."

"That's why she's here, isn't it?" Perdi said. "She's trying to free her son."

"That's the only answer I've been able to come up with." Dhalia's face was grim. "Eclipsis is bad enough on her own. I don't want to meet her kids."

"What about her daughter?" Amelia asked. The idea of the Princess of Monsters had stuck with her. Somehow, she knew this was important. "Perhaps she has a role to play in this too."

"Maybe, but right now we need to focus on stopping Eclipsis from freeing her son. The other Amelia mentioned seals. Do you think you can find them?"

"I already have." The Fairy of Magic shook her head in amazement. "I can't believe I didn't notice them before. They're huge and very powerful. It's like looking at candles and not noticing the bonfire behind them."

"How many of them are there?"

"Two, but I think there used to be more. I think that there used to be five of them, but three of them have failed."

"Do you have any idea what happened to them?" Perdi asked.

"One of them seems to have just...faded. I don't think it was as strong as the others, and it just wore off. The second one...Something overwhelmed it."

"Eclipsis?" Reyva asked.

"...No. Not her. Not magic. Something else happened to it."

"What?" Dhalia's voice was sharp. "Not magic? What else could have happened to overwhelm the seal?"

"I don't know." Amelia frowned. "Whatever it was, it destroyed the land around it and poisoned what was left. It's even contaminated the magic of the land."

"Where was this?" Perdi asked.

"Very far North, and on the other side of the world from here."

"I think I know what happened." Perdi's voice was grim. "That's pretty close to where mankind tested the most terrifying weapon they ever built. The most powerful explosion ever created by humans."

"Humans did this?" Artis was stunned. She couldn't believe any non-magical being could cause that much damage.

"I think so. Their lack of magic has lead their technology to some dark places."

"What about the third seal that failed?" Dhalia pressed. "What happened to that one?"

"I think that one was Eclipsis's doing." Amelia's frown turned into a full scowl. "It wasn't overwhelmed, and it didn't fade. It was torn apart." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I can feel traces of her magic there."

"Where are the last two?" Dhalia asked. "We have to protect them."

"One of them is right here." Amelia's relief was obvious. "The island of Tir Nan Og is home to one of the two remaining seals."

"What about the other one?"

"It's on a large island across the ocean to the east."

"That sounds like England." Perdi said. "Can you be more specific?"

"No, sorry." Amelia frowned again. "Something about that seal is different though. It's stronger than the seal here. Much stronger."

"Probably because that's Allanya's seal." Artis said. The others turned to look at her. "What? Five seals. Five original magical beings."

"She's right." Amelia said. "The seal here feels like Arcadia's magic."

"The one that faded was probably Pelia's." Reyva reasoned. "Pixies just don't have as much power as fairies or witches do."

"The one that was overwhelmed was probably Gorman's." Perdi said. "Wizards have always had a greater reliance on the physical aspects of magic than fairies. It makes sense that his seal would be the most vulnerable to a non-magical force."

"Which means the one that Eclipsis just shredded was Wirena's seal." Amelia said. "Probably the easiest one for her to figure out, given her affinity for dark magic."

"Well now that she's figured out how to destroy them she's going to try for the other two seals." Dhalia said. "We can't let that happen."

"It'll take all of us working together to even stand a chance of beating Eclipsis." Reyva said. "We can't be in two places at once."

"No, we can't. But I think the seal here should be safe."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Amelia said. "Eclipsis has been around since before Tir Nan Og existed. There's no guarantee the barriers will keep her out."

"That's true, but if she does come here she'll be up against the entire castle and all its fairies. The other seal, however, is vulnerable. We have to protect it."

"We should tell Roxy about this." Artis said. "She needs to know what's going on."

"Agreed."

* * *

"...so we need to find the other seal." Dhalia concluded. "We can watch over that one while you defend the one here."

"I see." Roxy was in full regal attire today and she did not look happy about it. Unfortunately, she had several important meetings today, and she had to look the part. "Do you think you'll need any help? I could send some of my fairies with you."

"No." Amelia's voice was hard as she made her declaration. "This is our battle. I won't let anyone else get hurt because of me."

"Very well then." Roxy paused for a moment, then continued. "What about the seal here? We will guard it, but we have to know what to guard against. What if Eclipsis disguises herself to sneak in?"

"Perdi and I have a solution for that." Amelia turned to her friend. "Ready?"

"Yes."

"Then let's get started. Let's go Magix!"

(Cue transformation music)

The two fairies stood face to face, hands together. Then, in one voice, they began to chant.

"_Break the hold of spells on sight/reveal to all the foe we fight/and show us what we wish to find/reveal to all the mystic mind!" _

Power rippled out from the connection between the two fairies, covering the island of Tir Nan Og.

"There. That should make any illusions or shape-changing spells useless for the purpose of disguise."

"Thank y-" Roxy paused in shock. "Why are the three of you in your fairy forms?" She pointed at Dhalia, Reyva, and Artis.

"That's how the spell works." Perdi said. "It causes everyone's appearance to be based on their magical abilities."

"So no matter what shape she takes, Eclipsis will still look the same?"

"Correct."

"But what does she look like?"

"...We don't know." Amelia sighed. "We've never tried this spell on her."

"In that case we'll have to tighten security." Roxy said. "I will call for reinforcements. We'll need the Major Fairies here to stop Eclipsis."

"We need to leave now." Dhalia said. "The other seal needs to be protected."

"Go. The fairies of Earth can guard our home."

"Ready girls?" Reyva asked. "Spacial Rift!"

They stepped into the portal and vanished.

"Nebula," Roxy said, turning to face the curtains behind the throne, "you heard?"

"I did, Your Majesty." The dark-haired fairy stepped out from her hiding place.

"What do you think?"

"About?"

"Their ability to fight Eclipsis."

"...I don't know. They have a better chance of wining than many fairies, but I'm not sure anyone can defeat her."

"...I was afraid you might say that." Roxy stood. "Summon the other Major Fairies. We will need them here."

"And then?"

"And then, Nebula, you are going to England."

"As you wish...Roxy." Nebula smiled.

**A/N: I'm not entirely happy with how this chapter turned out, but at least this one meets my usual standards. I do not want to rewrite this one again! Moving on.**

**My spells just seem to keep getting fancier and fancier. Well there's a reason. The stakes keep going up, and the girls need stronger and stronger spells to keep up. I was really happy with how the spell from chapter eight worked out, and I'm almost as pleased with this one.**

**Speaking of which, I really ought to explain why Perdi was involved in that spell. You see, in my opinion, a person's magical ability comes from three factors. The first factor is their innate magical potential. For this reason, Bloom is stronger than Roxy (she could hold her own against the Wizards of the Black Circle as a basic level fairy!), who is stronger than Flora, who is stronger than Stella (although Stella makes up for it with her ring). The second factor is how clever the person is. This is less about how strong the magic is and more about how it's applied. A clever spell caster can easily defeat a much stronger magic user who relies solely on brute strength. The third factor is strength of will. This is what makes the Winx so much stronger than their classmates. They just have stronger wills. This third factor is the key, because it means that magic comes from the mind, not the body. Therefore, it falls under Perdi's sphere of control.**

**Before anyone gets on my case because they think Roxy has Believix, or an incomplete Believix, or whatever, I would like to point out that in episode nineteen of season four, Bloom herself states that Roxy has, and I quote, "...no Believix power." So, can we finally put a stake through the heart of this annoying argument? I for one am well and truly sick of it.**

**One final reminder, LAST CALL FOR NAMES!**

**See everyone next chapter. (Roxy does not have Believix!)**


	10. Family Ties

******The poll for the names is now up, so go and vote for your favorite! The winning name will be announced next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club. If I did I wouldn't be overworked, underpaid, and having tests every other day. Fortunately, Spring Break is coming up soon, so I should be able to get some stuff done then.**

**ShortAsianv23, uh, no. Amelia does not have any of Eclipsis's power, and her grandmother is not Eclipsis's daughter. I don't know where you got that from, but it's wrong. Unless you meant to say Allanya, in which case you're closer, but Amelia's grandmother is still not Allanya's daughter. As for what Eclipsis really looks like, the only people who know that are Allanya, Arcadia, and maybe the other original magic users, if they're still alive.**

**alenadira2, it's easier if you understand the pronunciation. Reyva is pronounced Rey-Vuh, with the emphasis on the second syllable. I suppose I should also clarify the pronunciation for Dhalia too, because that's the weird one. The h is almost, but not quite, silent. There's no good way of spelling out the sound because it's very subtle and not one you see a lot in English, but I'll see what I can do. D(h)al-Ya. Yeah, not very good.**

**On with the story!**

The five fairies burst into the air above a quiet green landscape of gently rolling hills and tidy looking forests. The sound of birds chirping drifted through the late spring air.

But they had no time to admire the scenery. "Amelia, how far are we from the seal?" Dhalia asked.

"Not far." Amelia replied. "We're actually already over it, but the center of the seal is a few miles to the south."

"Then let's go."

The five fairies flew south over fields, forests, and roads. "There!" Amelia pointed at an odd structure.

"That?" Reyva asked. "It's just a ring of stones!"

"It's the center of the seal!" Amelia replied.

"Perdi, do you know anything about this?" Artis asked. "Why is there a ring or stones at the center of the seal?"

"That's Stonehenge! One of the most famous ancient buildings on Earth!" Perdi was stunned. "For years no one could figure out what it was for, but I never thought it would have anything to do with Eclipsis."

"Is it the focus for the seal?" Dhalia asked. "Do we need to defend it?"

"...No, it was put in place after the seal." Amelia said. "The seal itself is bound to the land."

"Then why is it here?" Reyva asked.

"I think I know." Perdi said. "This seal is so powerful that any magical being withing a hundred miles could sense it. I imagine even nonmagical beings could sense it if they got close enough."

"And?"

"I think this is simply a marker, or perhaps a reminder. We'll have to get a closer look."

"Alright then." Dhalia said.

the five fairies descended.

* * *

The tourists at Stonehenge were surprised to see five fairies coming to visit the monument. Magic had been back for fifteen years, but fairies were still far from common. Cameras immediately swiveled towards the new arrivals.

"Great." Dhalia grumbled under her breath. "We're going to have to protect these people too if Eclipsis attacks. Because life wasn't complicated enough already."

"Just make them stop taking pictures!" Artis whined.

"If you don't want your picture taken then go hid behind Reyva." Amelia said. "We have work to do here."

"Right."

"We should get them out of here." Dhalia said. "If Eclipsis does attack we won't be able to guarantee their safety."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Reyva asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Perdi, can you convince them?" Dhalia asked.

"Yes, but..." Perdi hesitated. "I'd rather not."

"It's for their own safety. We can't be worrying about them while we're fighting Eclipsis."

"...Okay."

The Fairy of Thought put her fingers to her temples. Slowly the crowd began to disperse, drifting away from the megaliths as though propelled by an unseen force.

"There. They'll go home now."

"Good." Amelia said. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of us."

"We should probably make camp here." Dhalia said. "Reyva?"

"On it." The Fairy of Reality said. "Spacial Pocket!" A small portal opened. Reyva reached in and pulled out their gear. The five fairies immediately set to work, putting up the tents and getting out their other gear.

At the bottom of the pile were five bundles of cloth. None of the girls made a move to touch the cloth-covered objects.

"Why do we keep these things?" Perdi asked, staring at the long curved package.

"To remind ourselves of what we did." Artis's voice was flat and toneless. "So we never forget how much our mistake cost the Magic Dimension."

Reyva's gaze was fixed upon the largest object. She wasn't much for regret, but she deeply, deeply regretted this. "We never should have gone to Univix."

"It was all my fault." Amelia said. "If I hadn't been so set on getting my own powers, none of this would have happened."

"Alright, we messed up." Dhalia said. "Now let's do something about it, and stop Eclipsis."

"Right!"

* * *

The sun was setting as the five girls gathered around their small fire.

"I hate to be the one to bring this up," Amelia said, "but how are we going to stop Eclipsis in the first place?"

"I'm sure we can figure something out." Reyva said. "With our powers, nothing is impossible."

"We will stop her." Artis said. "And we will stop her for good."

"But how? What can we do to beat her?"

"Whatever it takes." Said Artis. "We will eliminate her from the Magic Dimension."

"It's time for bed." Dhalia said. "Reyva and I will take first watch."

* * *

Amelia woke to someone shaking her shoulder. Judging by the vigor of the shake, she guessed it was Reyva.

"Your turn to watch." Reyva said. "Dhalia already switched with Artis."

Amelia grumbled a bit but got up. Reyva immediately lay down on her bedroll and went to sleep.

Amelia walked out into the brisk night air. "Hey Artis."

The other girl did not respond.

"Artis? Is something wrong?"

"Eclipsis." The word came out like a splinter of ice.

"Artis, what's the problem?" Amelia asked. "This isn't like you."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"If you're sure."

The other fairy said nothing.

"Okay then." Amelia wandered over to the other side of the camp to keep watch.

* * *

Something was bothering her, but she just couldn't figure out what it was. They'd discovered Eclipsis's true purpose on Earth, as well as an explanation for why she'd been born without powers, but it only raised more questions. And more guilt. The earrings had survived for ten thousand years. It had taken her less than ten to break one. She thought back to the earrings. Opposites together. Why did that seem so important? If Eclipsis had an opposite it was Allanya, but she was in Univix. They had no way of contacting her.

Perdi walked over. "Could you not think so loudly?"

"Oh, sorry Perdi. Did I wake you?"

"It's okay. Artis was about to wake me anyways."

"Is there something you'd like to talk about?"

"No, but there's something you'd like to talk about."

"Please don't do that."

"Sorry, but you were thinking so hard it was like hearing someone shout."

"I said I was sorry."

"So, do you want to ask or do you want me to just tell you?"

"I'd rather ask."

"Then do so."

"Perdi, do you think you could contact Allanya?"

"Possibly." Perdi considered for a moment. "Normally, there'd be no way to reach anyone in Univix, but in this case it just might work."

"Do you need anything?"

"No, just sit still."

Amelia sat.

Perdi touched her fingers to her temples. "I'm going to try to use the fact that you and Allanya are related to open a psychic link between the two of you. I won't be able to listen in, it's going to take all of my focus just to keep the link open. Good luck." With that, Perdi closed her eyes and began a soft chant.

_"Trace the ties that last forever/Connect the ones, bound together/And seal the rift of time and space/Speak together, face to face!"_

Amelia was disoriented for a moment as the night landscape rippled out of existence. She was back in Allanya's house. The Lady of Magic stood before her, her face drawn and worn._  
_

"Allanya, I-" Amelia stopped, unsure of where to begin.

"You know." It was not a question.

"...Yes."

"I am indeed your ancestor. And your earrings are the same ones that once belonged to my daughter."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Afraid of what you might think of me. After all, I am the one responsible for your lack of powers."

"What? How?"

"My daughter's powers came from me. They were bound to my own powers. When I gave up my original powers hers were lost as well. Even my granddaughter, young though she was, lost her powers."

"You gave up your powers?"

"Yes."

"How? Arcadia said that powers earned in Univix cannot be taken away."

"What she said was true, but it was not the whole truth."

"Tell me." Amelia pleaded. "I need to know."

"Listen carefully. There is one way to remove the powers of Univix from a person. You come from the realm of opposites. Have you never wondered about Univix, and where its opposite is?"

"You mean-"

"Yes. It's name is Altivix, and it is the balance to Univix."

"And you went through Altivix."

"Yes. I stepped through the Gate of Mortals, and in so doing relinquished my powers."

"But you have powers now."

"Yes. I returned to Univix and passed through the Well of Magic a second time. My new powers were staggering. I could create magic where none had been. I could bestow the blessings of powers on entire realms. I could do anything, except cure Eclipsis."

"But why did you go to Altivix in the first place?"

The Lady of Magic stared at the floor. "...For Sasha." Allanya's voice was soft and full of regret. "Eclipsis's daughter."

"You wanted to cure her."

"Yes." She looked up. "But just as my daughter's powers were bound to mine, Sasha's powers were bound to Eclipsis's."

"So you left her in Altivix?"

"I had no other choice. I had to stop Eclipsis."

"Why didn't you take Eclipsis to Altivix?"

"I wasn't strong enough. No single person is strong enough to keep Eclipsis contained long enough to get her through Altivix, and I couldn't ask anyone else to sacrifice their powers on such a risky plan."

"So you sealed her Univix. How?"

"As the Lady of Magic, I can open portals to Univix. I cannot leave however. My magic binds me to this place."

"Why did you go back in the first place then?"

"I wasn't strong enough to cure her. The least I could do was watch over her."

"Why do you care so much about her?"

"Because she should not have to suffer so much for one mistake."

"That is not an answer."

"...You will take Eclipsis to Altivix?"

"If we can."

"Find Sasha. She can tell you everything. Goodbye Amelia." The scene began to fade.

"No! Wait! I have so many questions!"

"Goodbye Amelia. Remember Sasha. Remember Eclipsis. Remember who you are, and remember who you were. Goodbye."

The house vanished and Amelia was back on Earth. The sun was just starting to rise, the first rays peaking over the horizon.

"How did it go?" Perdi asked.

"I know what we need to do." Amelia looked up at her friend. "I just don't know how."

"We'd better wake the others."

"Yes. They should hear this too."

**A/N: Things are starting to come together. Eclipsis can be beaten, but what role does her daughter have in this? Where is this Altivix anyways? One thing is for certain, Eclipsis will make her next move soon. Can she be stopped in time? you'll have to wait and see.**

**So I finally got around to seeing the two new episodes. And I realized something. The Winx are rapidly becoming a group of squeamish cowardly girls! Seriously! The mummies appear and what does Musa, arguably the bravest of the Winx, do? Shriek in terror. I don't remember much shrieking in season one. Or season two. Or three. Or even four. There was definitely some shrieking in season five, and now it's gotten out of hand. They fought the Army of Decay, something similar to, but far worse than mere mummies, without any shrieking or panicking. Now they're five years older and six transformations stronger (arguably eight, but I'm not counting Sophix and Lovix as separate transformations), and they panic at the most pathetic of foes. Give me a break! Freaking out over what amounted to walking balls of yarn? Please! That's not the Winx I know and love. The only good part in the most recent episodes was how they handled Daphne's powers. I was worried they were just going to make her a clone of Bloom, throwing fireballs and fiery dragons around, but what they did was to make her a far more versatile fairy than I expected. So far she can use fire, water, and earth, but I doubt that's the extent of her powers. We'll have to wait and see.**


	11. Divide and Conquer

**Disclaimer: For the twenty-seventh time, I do not own Winx Club.**

**Cyborg, you have a very, very good point. Far too many characters become ruined when they find out their ancestry. However, I think I've managed to avoid that situation. Amelia gets no real benefits from being Allanya's descendant. She gets no special powers from it (ironically, she had no powers _because _she was related to Allanya), and Allanya has been all but forgotten by most people, so no fame. Those are often the things that completely ruin an otherwise good character. As for the earrings, Allanya created them. There's more to it than that, but you'll have to wait until book three for the full story.**

**Alenadira2,I have to say the character regression has to be the worst part of the new seasons. It was sort of present for season four, but over all I really liked season four, almost as much as I did season one. Let's take this character by character.**

**Bloom: She grew up _too_ much. By season four she was a mature young woman, but she still knew how to have a little fun. Now she's just depressed. **

**Stella: The poster girl for character regression, Stella was always a bit of an airhead. But, she used to be able to put that aside when the occasion demanded it. Now she's all airhead, all the time. In fact, I'm going to name this phenomenon after her. Whenever a character with a major but well controlled character flaw regresses by losing the ability to control said flaw, that character is a victim of Stella Syndrome.**

**Musa: What the heck happened to Musa?! The tough tomboy of the group has become a shrieking stereotypical musical girl! She doesn't even seem like the same character anymore!**

**Flora: Flora has actually made it through relatively unscathed, although I don't like some of the minor tweaks they've made to her personality.**

**Aisha: I've never been particularly fond of Aisha. I always found her to be just that little bit too perfect, complete with perfect flaws. That said, her regression started earlier than the others. Season four was not a good season for her personality as she lost her independent streak in favor of moodiness, and season five was even worse. **

**Tecna: Tecna is still holding on with some aspects of her personality, but she's slowly becoming a more and more washed-out generic tecno-geek. Also, she's getting dumber. All the Winx are, but Tecna in particular is losing IQ points with appalling speed. The whole riddle of the Sphinx thing was just painful to watch. It's a riddle! It's not supposed to make you do math, it's supposed to make you think! Ugh.**

**As for the spell Reyva used, Spacial Rift is used to open portals between locations. Spacial Pocket opens up a portal to Reyva's personal pocket dimension. The two spells are related, but not the same.**

**As for the poll, it was a hard-fought battle that ended in a tie. As the author, my vote is the tie breaker, so we now have a name for our intrepid group of girls. Keep reading to find out what it is.**

**Alright, let's get moving on the story.**

"...So if we take Eclipsis through Altivix, it will strip her of her powers, breaking the curse on her?" Dhalia asked.

"Yes!" Amelia said, practically bouncing with excitement. "It's the only way to defeat her."

"And where is this Altivix?" Reyva asked.

"...I don't know."

"We have to find it." Dhalia said. "It's our only hope of beating her."

"We could ask Arcadia." Perdi offered. "She's the only one who might now where it is."

"What about the seal?" Artis asked. "We can't just leave it unprotected."

"No we can't." Dhalia said. "Which is why we need to split up. Amelia and Reyva will go to the Golden Kingdom to talk to Arcadia. The rest of us will stay here to guard against Eclipsis."

"Are you crazy? The only way we can beat Eclipsis is together! And without me, you won't even know if she's coming!"

"It's a risk we have to take Amelia. We need to know more about Altivix, and I have a feeling that you should be the one to go. Reyva will provide you with transportation. You should be back in a day at most."

"You won't be able to stop her if she attacks!"

"Amelia." Reyva's voice was soft, but firm. "You can't do everything yourself. We have to do this. We'll only be gone for a day, so it's unlikely Eclipsis will attack while we're gone. Everything will be just fine."

"However, in case she does, I made these." Perdi had been digging in her pack, and now brought out five rings. She handed them out to the others, slipping the fifth onto her own finger. "These are telepathy beacon charms. As long as we wear these, I will be able to contact any of you, no matter how far away you are. If Eclipsis does attack, I'll let you know."

"See Amelia? Nothing to worry about."

"You should get going." Dhalia said. "The faster you go, the sooner you'll be back."

"Right." Amelia and Reyva took a step back. "Let's go Magix!"

(Cue transformation music)

The two fairies hovered over their friends.

"Spacial rift!"

The portal opened, and the two of them dove through it.

"Dhalia?" Perdi's voice was nervous. "What if Eclipsis does decide to attack while they're gone?"

"I don't think she will, but just in case..."

"What are you- oh."

"What are you talking about?" Artis asked, utterly confused.

"Dhalia has an evil mind." Perdi said.

"Come on girls, let's get started. Artis, I'll explain as we go. We're going to set up a few surprises for Eclipsis and her friends."

"I think I like the sound of that."

"I thought you might."

* * *

Amelia and Reyva emerged over a massive forest.

"Uh, Reyva, this isn't the Golden Kingdom."

"I know, but it's as far as my portals can take us. It's hard enough to get to the Misty Woods! Remember last time? We had to hitch a ride with Daphne."

"I remember, but I thought, with your new powers and all..."

"Nope."

"Well, I guess we have to find the entrance to the Golden Kingdom again." Amelia glanced around. "Magi Scan!" She yelled, sweeping the area for the magical traces of the Golden Kingdom.

"Amelia?"

"What?"

"We've got company."

Indeed they did. The monsters of the forest were swarming beneath them.

"I'll take care of them, you just focus on finding that gate." With that, Reyva dove towards the tangle of monsters.

"Alright monsters, I have present for you." She fluttered just out of reach as she summoned her power. "Reality Crush!" She yelled, clapping her hands together.

Reality twisted under the effects of Reyva's magic as space itself compacted into a tiny point at the center of the horde of monsters. Then Reyva released it.

With a massive thunderclap, the point exploded, taking a massive shock wave with it. Some of the monsters had been torn apart by the compression. The ones that survived that were now hammered by the blast. There were very few survivors. Those monsters outside the blast radius immediately fled.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Reyva crowed.

"Hey, I wanted to fight some of them too!" Amelia complained.

"Too bad, better luck next time!"

"Well I call the next group."

"All yours. Did you find the entrance?"

"Yes. It's not too far from here. Let's go."

* * *

"I think that just about does it." Dhalia said. "It won't stop Eclipsis, but it'll bring down anything else."

"When did you learn how to set magical traps?" Artis asked with a slight frown. Magical traps, while not exactly forbidden for fairies, were considered extremely bad form, roughly equivalent to throwing sand in a sword duel.

"First semester at Cloud Tower. There's a required class, and an elective."

"Did you take the elective?"

"It was either that, or a class on basic hexes for things like warts and bad foot odor. I decided to go for the useful class."

"Well it's a good thing you did." Perdi surveyed the area. "We've done all we can for now, time get some rest."

* * *

"So how are we getting in?" Amelia asked, glaring at the tiny door in front of them. They'd reached the entrance without much fuss, and the few monsters that had been in the area were quickly vaporized by Amelia. But now they had to get through a door about six inches tall. "We're not Enchantix fairies, we don't have the ability to miniaturize!"

"Relax, oh ye of little faith. I have the solution."

"'Ye of little faith?' You've been spending too much time with Perdi."

"Guilty."

"So what's this solution?"

"Dimensional Expansion!" The door seemed to flew and stretch, growing from a tiny hole into a full-sized door.

"Nice trick."

"After you."

The two fairies stepped through the door.

* * *

"What are you reading there Perdi?" Artis was terminally bored. She'd already finished her own book, cleaned up around camp, and examined the massive stones that made up the building they were camping by.

Naturally, Perdi did not answer.

"Hmm, 'Classics of European Literature', is it?" Artis asked, reading the cover.

This time Perdi looked up. "My brother gave it to me. It's a collection of important and influential pieces of literature."

"The 'Classics', right?"

"Yes."

"The Classix."

"That's what I just said." Perdi looked at Artis a bit oddly. "Weren't you listening?"

"No, I just came up with a name for us!"

"What?"

"Come on, we were just talking about this a week ago. A name for the five of us."

"Oh! Right. Classix?"

"Yep!"

"Let's see what Dhalia thinks."

* * *

Arcadia was not expecting guests, so when two fairies who didn't even have their Enchantix powers showed up, she was not exactly thrilled. Seeing the thunderous expression on her face, Reyva drew back. Amelia, however, stepped forwards.

"Why are the two of you here?" The ancient Fairy scowled.

"We need information." Amelia said. "We believe we've found a way to defeat Eclipsis, but we need your help."

"How do you think you're going to defeat Eclipsis?"

"By taking her through Altivix." Amelia's voice was hard with determination, but it also held an edge of challenge. "We will remove this threat from the Magic Dimension for good."

"You will lose your powers."

"I know. I don't care. This is my mess, now I have to fix it."

"And your friends?"

"They will go with me. They know the risks."

"What do you need from me?"

"We need to know where the entrance to Altivix is."

"It's not easy to get there." Arcadia warned.

"Just tell me where."

"Very well. The passage into Altivix is located in the deepest reaches of the Omega Dimension, where the very air is frozen solid."

"We'll make it. Thank you for your assistance."

"You're welcome."

Amelia turned and began walking back towards the entrance.

"Amelia!" Arcadia yelled at the young fairy's back. "Remember your strengths, and your opponents weaknesses. Remember who you are, and who you used to be."

"I will." Amelia said. "Did you?"

"What?" The elder fairy stared at the girl. "What did you say?"

Amelia turned to face Arcadia. "Who were you, before you became the first fairy?"

"I was Arcadia."

"Who was Arcadia?"

"I was!"

"Yes, but who _was_ she?"

"She was Wirena's older sister and Pelia's best friend."

"And who were they?"

"Wirena was my little sister. She was always trying to be the best at everything. Pelia was my best friend. We were even closer than Wirena and I were."

"Where are they now?"

"...They died. They put so much energy into sealing Eclipsis's son away that they died."

"Eclipsis's son's magic is bound to her. They could have lived."

"...Leave. Now."

"As you wish."

Amelia reached the end of the hall where Reyva pulled her aside.

"What were you thinking?" She hissed. "Why did you provoke her like that?"

"Because she's responsible for this too."

"You're insane! She could have killed you!"

"Even so, she deserved it."

"Let's get out of here before you do anything else."

The two fairies stepped through the door and back into the Misty Woods.

"Let's get back to the others." Reyva said, readying her magic.

"Wait, I want to make a short side trip. Can you get us to our dorms?"

"Yes. What do you want to do there?"

"I want to get something."

"Okay then. Spacial Rift!"

**A/N: The Omega Dimension. The prison for the worst villains in the Magic Dimension. A fitting place for one such as Eclipsis. If it could hold her.**

**Yes, the first fairy and the first witch were sisters. This is why fairies can become witches and witches can become fairies. They come from the same family. Also, since Pelia was such a close friend of Arcadia, Pixies bond with fairies, but not witches.**

**That's pretty much all I have to say right now, so this is it for the chapter. See everybody next time.**


	12. Plots, Plans, and an Unexpected Guest

**Disclaimer: I do not own Winx Club. I am completely out of jokes for these. I've got nothing.**

**Okay, I should probably clarify what's up with fairies, witches, pixies, etc. Most modern day magical beings have no blood relationship with the original magical beings. Instead, they get their powers from the Blessing of Magic Allanya gave to each realm before returning to Univix. However, the powers' structures are dictated by the original magic users. Because the first witch and the first fairy were sisters, fairies and witches are able to change from one to the other. It's the way the powers are structured, and not because of any family relationship. **

**One last bit of comic relief before things get serious, so enjoy it while it lasts.**

"So you're suggesting we call ourselves the Classix?" Dhalia asked.

"Yes." Artis said with enthusiasm. "Our powers come from the original source of magic. The first and oldest fairy transformation. The classic transformation."

"Perdi? What do you think of this?"

"It's not a bad name." Perdi said. "And it does hold a lot of meaning."

"True." Dhalia said. "Well, I think it's a fairly good name too. When Amelia and Reyva get back we'll see what they think, but unless they strongly object, Classix it is."

"Alright!" Artis exulted. "And when do-"

"Hush!" Perdi hissed.

"What is it?" Dhalia asked.

"Someone's coming. And they aren't being slowed down by the barrier we put up to keep out humans."

"A magical being then." Dhalia said, slipping back into her role as leader. "Can you tell who it is?"

"No. The person's mind is strongly shielded."

"Eclipsis?" Artis asked.

"Maybe." Perdi said. "I could contact the others."

"Let's find out what we're dealing with first. Artis and I will go in first. Perdi, stay back until we know what we're dealing with. If it is Eclipsis, tell Amelia and Reyva to get back here as fast as possible."

"Got it."

"Which way are they coming from?"

"West. They're heading straight for us."

"Are any of our-" Artis was interrupted by a blinding flash of light. "-traps there..." She finished weakly.

"We'd better go see who it is." Dhalia said.

"Let's go Magix!"

(Cue transformation music)

Three fairies flew towards the source of the light.

* * *

"So what do you want to get from here?" Reyva asked as the two fairies exited the portal.

"My old earrings." Amelia answered.

"Why would you want those?" Reyva asked. "One of them is broken, and the other one can't hope to match your powers as a Magix fairy."

"I just feel like it's important that I have them. I don't want to use them, I just think I should have them with me." With that the fairy of magic vanished into her dorm room for a moment. When she emerged she was holding a small box. "I think they still have a role to play."

Reyva rolled her eyes. "Well you have them, so let's get back to Earth."

"Good idea."

"Spacial Rift!"

The two fairies stepped through the portal.

* * *

Amelia and Reyva appeared in the center of the camp.

"Hey, where are the others?" Reyva asked.

"You don't think they were attacked?" Amelia said worriedly.

"Can you sense their magic?"

"No, the seal is giving off too much interference. I could sense Eclipsis, but that's it."

"Then we'll have to search for them the hard way." Reyva said.

Suddenly the air was full of laughter.

"That sounded like... Dhalia?" Amelia asked.

"It came from over that way." Reyva said. "Spacial Rift!" The two girls stepped through another portal, emerging to the most bizarre sight they'd ever laid eyes on.

Dhalia was on the ground laughing uncontrollably while Artis was almost as bad. Perdi was trying to scowl at the two of them, but the effect was ruined by her barely controlled giggles. And the source of all this mirth was none other than Nebula. The former regent of the fairies of Earth was caught under a net of electrical energy. Despite this less than dignified position, she was doing her best to chew Dhalia out.

"-And what kind of fairy uses magical traps anyways? It's dishonorable, and furthermore, it should be beneath any self-respecting fairy's-" Her tirade continued for several minutes, during which all five Magix fairies were reduced to helpless laughter. "-Now get me out of here!"

"Y-y-y-yes," Dhalia managed to get out through her laughter, "right-, right away." She snapped her fingers and the net dissolved.

"I do not see the humor in this." Nebula said in a stern voice. "This isn't funny."

"Oh, yes it is!" Artis said, descending back into hysterical giggling.

"Can we at least take this somewhere more comfortable?" The dark haired fairy asked. "Crossing the Atlantic took a toll on my wings."

"Right this way." Dhalia said, still laughing occasionally.

* * *

"So what are you doing here anyways?" Perdi asked. "We thought you'd be back at Tir Nan Og with the other fairies to protect the seal there."

"Every other major fairy on Earth is there. Even Eclipsis should have a hard time getting past that." Nebula said. "Queen Roxanne instructed me to follow you. My original plan was to be nearby in case you needed help, but not close enough that you'd know I was here. It would have worked too, if it weren't for the fact that you have no sense of decency!"

"Actually, Perdi sensed you almost a full minute before you hit the trap." Artis said.

"That's not the point!" Nebula was not amused.

"The point is, we can take care of ourselves." Amelia said in a stony voice. "You should go back to Tir Nan Og. We can take care of the seal here."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. My queen has given me explicit instructions to help protect the seal here."

"...Alright." Amelia acquiesced. "But if Eclipsis does show herself, she's ours."

"I understand. I'm just here in case something goes wrong."

"Good. Now, if you could give us some privacy, there's something the five of us need to talk about."

"Very well. If you need me, I shall be searching for any other traps you may have left lying around."

"Just watch out for the one by the bushes there." Dhalia said, pointing. "It's a little sensitive..."

"Duly noted." The Earth fairy stalked off.

"I'm surprised there wasn't any smoke coming out of her ears." Reyva said.

"So, Amelia, what did you find out on your trip?" Dhalia asked.

"We learned where the entrance to Altivix is."

"Which is?"

"Omega."

"Oh. I take it we'll be needing winter gear then."

"No. It's in the deepest part of Omega. No one can survive down there without magic."

"And not many can with magic." Artis said.

"Tecna did." Perdi offered.

"Tecna is the fairy of Technology." Dhalia said. "She built herself a device to keep herself warm."

"So can we." Perdi replied.

"Do you know how?" Amelia asked.

"Yes, but I don't think I have the skill to do it myself."

"I've always been pretty good with small machines." Artis said. "I'm not the best at circuits and electronic stuff, but I'm very good with things like glasses or clocks."

"And I can handle electricity fairly well." Dhalia said. "We're going to need some parts."

"I'm sure I can borrow what we need from the workshop at Red Fountain." Reyva said. She did get along fairly well with the Specialists of Red Fountain, although several of those friendships had come at the expense of a few broken bones and even more bruised egos.

"Good." Dhalia said. "That handles that side of things. Now, how are we going to get Eclipsis to Omega?"

"We're going to have to use convergence." Amelia said. "It's going to take all five of us to keep her in check."

"I'm not sure even that will be enough." Perdi said. "Every fairy she's ever fought has lost, and lost badly."

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Artis asked in a sharp tone.

"...No."

"Well then, Reyva, if you could get us those parts we need, Artis and I can start building those devices. Perdi, you should go with her, you know what we actually need."

"I'll keep watch for Eclipsis." Amelia said.

"Oh, one last item on the agenda," Dhalia said, "Artis has suggested a name for us."

"Oh?" Reyva asked. "What is it?"

"Classix." Artis said. "Because our powers are the classic fairy transformation."

"Sounds good to me." Reyva said. "Amelia?"

"I like it."

"Then that makes five of us." Dhalia said. "We are now the Classix!"

* * *

The next few days were filled with boredom for Amelia and Reyva. Reyva and Perdi made a quick trip to Red Fountain to grab the necessary components, then came back. Perdi, Artis, and Dhalia immediately set about making five small devices that would protect them from the deadly chill of the Omega Dimension. However, this left Amelia and Reyva with nothing to do. Finally, they started using Stonehenge to play magical ball games. It was particularly interesting when Reyva started incorporating her portals into the course.

Nebula however, kept to herself. Every night she'd contact Roxy, but nothing of any interest happened. The tension continued to mount, as everyone waited for Eclipsis to make her next move.

Then, a few weeks later, they got what they were waiting for.

**A/N: Okay, I know, cliff hanger. I couldn't resist. Anyways, they now have a plan, and a means of surviving the deadly cold of Omega, but will their plan work? Eclipsis has been going through fairies like tiger goes through rabbits. Can she be defeated by five young girls? I guess we'll find out.**


End file.
